SmartDraw Manual

SmartDraw®
And
SmartDraw Professional
Draw Anything Easily.
User's Guide
Version 5
SmartDraw.com
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Contents
Getting Started 7
Welcome to SmartDraw! 7
What’s New In SmartDraw 5 8
SmartDraw Professional Features 11
Installing SmartDraw 12
Installing SmartDraw on a Network 13
Running SmartDraw 14
Getting Help 15
Creating a New Drawing 18
Selecting a Template 19
Closing and Saving Drawings 20
Opening an Existing Drawing 21
Emailing a Drawing 21
Drawings and Windows 22
Right Mouse Button Menus 22
The Program Toolbar 22
The Document Toolbar 24
Rulers and Grids 24
Symbol Library Windows 25
The SmartDraw Explorer 26
Undo 27
Changing the Page Size and Orientation 28
Page Margins 28
Storing Two or More Drawings in the Same Document 29
Default Settings 29
Exiting SmartDraw 30
The Basics of Flow Charting 30
The SmartDraw Quick Tutorial 32

SmartDraw Quick Tutorial: The Basics of SmartDraw in 12 Easy Lessons 32
Tutorial Lesson 1: Starting the Program 33
Tutorial Lesson 2: Basic Drawing 34
Tutorial Lesson 3: Selecting Objects 36
Tutorial Lesson 4: Using Lines 38
Tutorial Lesson 5: Adding Text to Your Drawings 39
Tutorial Lesson 6: Colors, Shading, Borders, Arrowheads 41
Tutorial Lesson 7: Automatic Connectors (the Easy Way to Draw Perfect Charts) 41
Tutorial Lesson 8: How to Line Things Up 44
Tutorial Lesson 9: Grouping and Un-Grouping Objects 45
SmartDraw User's Guide Contents • i
Tutorial Lesson 10: Using the Libraries 46
Tutorial Lesson 11: Tables and Forms 48
Tutorial Lesson 12: The Professional Finish (Colors and Shadows) 50
Drawing with SmartDraw 52

Adding Objects 52
Sticky Tool Selection 53
Drawing Lines and Curves 54
Selecting Objects 56
Moving Objects 58
Sizing Objects 59
The Shape Properties Dialog 60
The Position and Size Dialog 61
Rotating Objects 62
Flipping Objects 64
Deleting Objects 64
Duplicating Objects 64
The SmartDraw Explorer 66

The SmartDraw Explorer Panel 66
The Explorer Tree Control 67
Searching the Tree 68
Opening Libraries and Templates 70
Favorites 70
Right Mouse Button Menus 70
Refreshing the Tree 71
Previews and on-demand installation 71
SmartDraw Collection Licenses 74
Changing the Appearance of a Drawing 76

Changing the Appearance of Shapes 76
Changing the Shape 77
Adjusting Shape Outlines 78
Redesigning Shape Outlines 78
Changing the Appearance of Lines 79
Arrowhead Dialog 80
Creating Your Own Arrowheads 81
Changing Line Shape 83
Changing the Background Color 83
Colors and Shadows 83
Overriding Shadows 85
Defining Your Own Styles 86
Overriding Styles 88
Adding Text 89
Entering Text in Shapes 89
Automatic Text Resizing 89
ii • Contents SmartDraw User's Guide

Text Entry Properties 90
Entering Background Text 92
Attaching Text to Lines 93
Dimensioning: Showing Line Length 94
Changing Fonts, Size and Style 95
Changing Text Using the Toolbar 96
Positioning Text Inside Shapes 97
Positioning Text Along Lines 97
Deleting Text 98
Inserting Symbols 98
Special Characters 98
Bulleted Text 99
Changing Text Color 99
Changing Text Shadows 99
Using Tables 100

What are Tables? 100
Adding Tables to a Drawing 100
Changing a Normal Shape into a Table 101
Changing a Table into a Normal Shape 101
Rows, Columns and Cells 102
Formatting Tables 102
Adding Table Formats of Your Own 103
Adding Text to Tables 103
Moving Around the Table 104
Selecting Cells 105
Applying Changes to Selected Cells 105
Selecting Cell Dividers 106
Moving Cell Dividers 106
Changing the Width and Height of Cells. 107
Spacing Rows and Columns Evenly 107
Resizing the Table Object 108
Joining and Splitting Cells. 108
Inserting Rows, Columns and Cells 109
Appending Rows and Columns 111
Deleting Rows, Columns and Cells 111
Deleting, Copying and Pasting Text 111
Changing the Appearance of a Table Object 112
AutoFill 112
Using Tables 113
Arranging Objects 115

Arranging Objects 115
Using Snaps 115
Aligning Objects 115
Making Objects the Same Size 116
Spacing Objects Evenly 117
Centering the Drawing on the Page 117
Changing the Front-to-Back Order 117
SmartDraw User's Guide Contents • iii
Locking Objects 118
Connecting Lines and Shapes 119

Linking Objects to Each Other 119
Linking a Line to a Shape 119
Infinite and Fixed Connection Points 120
Turning Linking On and Off 121
Linking Shapes to Lines 121
Linking Shapes to Each Other 123
Linking Lines to Each Other 123
Formatting with Automatic Connectors 124

Using Automatic Connectors 124
Adding Connectors to a Drawing 125
Changing a Connector’s Shape 125
Adding Shapes to a Connector 125
Linking Automatic Connectors to Each Other 126
Adjusting the Connector Spacing 127
Changing an Automatic Connector’s Appearance 129
Using Automatic Connectors in Flow Charts 129
Symbol Libraries 131

Libraries 131
Document Toolbars 133
Opening a Symbol Library 134
Searching for Symbols 134
Changing the Settings for a Symbol 135
Adding New Symbols to a Library 139
Transferring Drawings between Libraries 140
Creating a New Library 140
The Library Builder Wizard 142
Adding Credits to a Library 145
Sharing Libraries on a Network 147
Creating Your Own Shapes 148

Joining Lines to Make a New Shape 148
Grouping and Ungrouping 149
Viewing and Printing 151

The SmartDraw Drawing Area 151
Changing the View 152
Setting the Ruler Scale 153
Printing 154
Page Setup 155
Print Preview 157
The Print Dialog 158
iv • Contents SmartDraw User's Guide

Keyboard Navigation 161
Selecting with the Tab Key 161
The Tab Order 161
Text Entry and the Tab Key 161
SmartDraw and Forms 162
Using SmartDraw with Other Programs 163

Copying and Pasting 163
Image Objects 164
Importing Images From Other Programs 164
Ungrouping Imported Images 165
Opening Files Created with Other Flowchart Programs 167
SmartDraw File Conversion Wizard 167
Exporting Drawings 169
Exporting to Bitmapped Files 170
Exporting Images to Web Pages 172
Hyperlinking to Files and Web Pages 173
Using Hyperlinks 175
Using SmartDraw with Microsoft Office 176

Transferring Drawings from SmartDraw to Office. 176
Inserting a SmartDraw Object into Word 177
Transferring Objects from Office to SmartDraw 177
Microsoft Office Companion 178
Adding Objects with Paste and Paste Special 179
Inserting Objects 180
Editing OLE Objects 181
Managing Links 181
Text Tools 183

Spelling Correction 183
The Check-Spelling Dialog 184
Selecting a Spelling Language 187
The Dictionary Dialog 187
Spelling Options 191
Find and Replace 193
Customizing SmartDraw 195

New Drawing Buttons 195
Creating SmartDraw Templates 196
Designing Templates 198
Adding an Advisor 200
Skipping the New Drawing Dialog 201
The Options Dialog 201
Changing the Program Toolbar 203
Defining Your Own Menu Colors 205
SmartDraw User's Guide Contents • v

SmartDraw Licenses 207
SmartDraw Licenses 207
Workgroup Licenses 207
SmartDraw Collections 209
Appendix A Technical Support 210

Registered Users 210
Troubleshooting 211
Index 214
vi • Contents SmartDraw User's Guide

Getting Started
Welcome to SmartDraw!
SmartDraw is the easy-to-use program that lets anyone
draw great looking flowcharts, diagrams, forms and other
business graphics. You don't have to be an artist to get
results with SmartDraw.
SmartDraw automatically aligns shapes, lines and text. Its
unique, built-in library of design styles lets you pick
professional looking color schemes, shadows, and textures
for your drawings with the click of a mouse. Libraries of
SmartDraw Symbols provide an unlimited selection of clip-
art that you can edit or add to.
SmartDraw works as a stand-alone program, and as part of
Microsoft Office and other programs that support Object
Linking and Embedding (OLE). You can insert a
SmartDraw drawing directly into Microsoft Word for
Windows, using the Insert Object command. With the
Professional version of SmartDraw, you can also insert
Office documents, like graphs, equations, and spreadsheets
into your drawings as SmartDraw symbols.
There are three different versions of SmartDraw:
SmartDraw Standard
This is the standard edition of SmartDraw. It is a 32-bit
Windows application and requires a Pentium (or better) PC
running Microsoft Windows 95, 98, NT 4.0, 2000 or later.
The Professional Edition of SmartDraw has all the features
of SmartDraw Standard plus a collection of more advanced
features, including:
SmartDraw User's Guide • 7

• Spelling checker
• Find and Replace
• Advanced import and export filters
• OLE Client Support
• The Microsoft Office Companion
SmartDraw Professional Plus

Professional Plus has the same features as the Professional
Edition of SmartDraw, but also includes a license to all
nine of the SmartDraw Library and Template Collections,
which include more than 30,000 symbols and example
drawings.
This Manual
This manual is common to all three versions. The icon in
the margin to the left indicates professional-only features.
What’s New In SmartDraw 5

For users upgrading from earlier versions of SmartDraw,
we highlight here some of the new features found in
SmartDraw version 5.
More than 30,000 New Symbols

In SmartDraw 5 there are almost 20 times as many symbols
as in SmartDraw 4. These are organized into nine different
collections:
• Business & Charting
• Software Design
• NetDrawing
• Floor Plans & Facilities
• Electrical Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering
• Science & Math
• Clipart & Flyers
• Maps & Geography
8 • Getting Started SmartDraw User's Guide
The SmartDraw Explorer
The new SmartDraw Explorer makes it easy to browse
these vast symbol collections and to search for the symbol
you are looking for by name.

The SmartDraw Explorer shows all of the libraries and
templates, organized into folders, in a tree similar to the
Windows Explorer. Clicking on the folders opens and
closes them. Inside the folders there are icons for each
symbold library or drawing template.
A Preview appears when your mouse hovers over any file
in the Explorer, showing you exactly what's inside that
library or template file. To open the file, simply drag it into
the drawing area, or double-click it.
SmartDraw User's Guide Getting Started • 9

Previews and on-demand installation
With SmartDraw’s new library and template previews, you
can search and browse the entire collection using only
about 1% of the disk space that a full installation requires.
When you find a symbol you want to use, opening the
preview file lets you install just what you want,
automatically, either from the SmartDraw Web site or from
your CD.
The Library Builder Wizard

You can import your own symbols into SmartDraw
Libraries using the new Library Builder Wizard. The
wizard will convert thousands of images in many popular
formats (including WMF, Postscript, DXF and others) into
SmartDraw libraries in minutes.
Drawing to Scale
SmartDraw’s new Floor Plans & Facilities collection
really shines with the new drawing-to-scale features. You
can now set the origin of the rulers anywhere in the
drawing. Shapes you add from libraries scale themselves to
the ruler-settings automatically and can be precisely
positioned using the improved Position and Size Dialog.
Tighter Organization Charts

SmartDraw 5 lets you adjust the spacing between the
branches of an organization chart, and any other tree built
with an automatic connector, for better looking charts.
Dropping Shapes on Lines

Drawing circuit diagrams, process flows, and similar
diagrams is literally a snap with SmartDraw 5’s new drop-
on-line feature. You can link electronics symbols like
resistors and capacitors to lines and slide them up and down
the lines like beads on a string.
Export to HTML
Now you can take your great-looking diagram and publish
it on your web site with SmartDraw’s new Export to
HTML feature. Hyperlinks you assign to shapes are

preserved when you export to HTML, making SmartDraw
the ideal way to draw clickmaps for the web.
Features
SmartDraw Professional has the following exclusive
features.
Spelling Checker
SmartDraw’s spelling checker works similarly to the one in
Microsoft Office. Words are checked in the background as
you type, and misspelled words are underlined with a red
wavy line. Right clicking on a misspelled word presents a
menu of suggestions.
You can also check the spelling of an entire document upon
command. Automatic correction of popular misspellings is
supported, and you can add your words to your own custom
dictionary.
Most European languages (including British English) are
supported, and you can switch languages on the fly with a
single menu command.
Advanced Import and Export Filters

SmartDraw Professional gives you access to Postscript
Import and Export, plus the vast libraries of technical
symbols in AutoCAD format. It supports many more file
import and export formats than the regular edition of
SmartDraw. These include:
• Encapsulated Postscript (EPS)
• AutoCAD (DXF)
• CGM
• HPGL
• PDF
• Adobe Illustrator
• CorelDraw (Import Only)
• MicroGrafx Draw
• Visio (Import Only)

OLE Client Support
SmartDraw Professional is an OLE client. As with
Microsoft Word and other Office applications, you can
insert graphs, WordArt, Spreadsheets and other OLE
objects into SmartDraw Professional drawings.
In SmartDraw an OLE object behaves like any shape. It can
be flipped, rotated, moved and re-opened for editing by the
program that created it.
OLE objects in SmartDraw drawings can also be added to
SmartDraw symbol libraries, while retaining their OLE
object properties. Dragging an OLE symbol (like a graph,
for example) from a library into your SmartDraw drawing
creates an OLE object that can be edited by the program
that created it.
The Microsoft Office Companion

If you have Office installed on your system, the Office
Companion adds many more exciting features to
SmartDraw Professional, including the ability to add
bitmaps, graphs, equations and WordArt®, directly from the
SmartDraw toolbar. The Companion also includes galleries
of pre-designed graphs, text styles, and equation symbols,
placed at your fingertips in SmartDraw libraries.
Global Search and Replace

SmartDraw Professional supports global search and replace
for an entire drawing.
Installing SmartDraw
Before you can run SmartDraw, you must first install it by
running the Setup Program. There are two ways you can
obtain this file:
• By downloading over the Internet.
• On a CD

Internet Download
You can freely download the SmartDraw Trial Edition
from www.smartdraw.com. You can also download full
versions of the program that you have purchased.
In either case, the file you download to your computer is an
install program. You must run it to install SmartDraw
onto your system.
The simplest way to do this is to download the file to your
desktop. This creates an icon on your Windows desktop.
You can then run the install program by double clicking on
its desktop icon. You can also run the install program using
the Run command under the Windows Start menu.
CD
If you purchased SmartDraw on a CD, all you have to do is
put the CD in your CD drive, and the setup program,
setup.exe, will start automatically. If this does not happen,
you must run setup.exe manually.
The easiest way to do this is to use the Run command,
found by pressing the Windows Start button. Run presents
a dialog that prompts you for the name of the program you
want to run. If you placed the SmartDraw CD in Drive D,
just type:
D:\SETUP
Follow the directions displayed by the Setup program.
Installing SmartDraw on a
Network
To install SmartDraw on a network, simply install it on the
server in the normal way described above. For each client
that will have access to the server, create a shortcut (or
icon) for SmartDraw on the client system and run the
program once. SmartDraw will install itself properly on the
client system.
You must have a workgroup license to share one copy of
SmartDraw between multiple users on a network.

SmartDraw will not run from a network drive unless you
have a workgroup license.
SmartDraw measures the number of different users that
have accessed the program on the network (not including
the server itself) and limits the number of unique users to
the number of licenses you have purchased. If a user has
accessed the program but no longer needs to use it, you can
free that user's license using the network administration
features under the License command.
Running SmartDraw
Once installed, SmartDraw is added to your start menu, and
a SmartDraw icon is added to your desktop. To run
SmartDraw, double-click on this icon, or run SmartDraw in
the same way that you run your other applications.
The Welcome Dialog

The first time you run the program you are presented with
the Welcome Dialog.
This lets you choose how to start your first drawing and
shows you useful tips for using SmartDraw.

You can start by creating a new drawing or by opening an
existing drawing file. If this is the first time you have used
SmartDraw, you will probably want to create a new
drawing.
Later, once you have a list of previously saved drawings,
typing Enter at the Welcome dialog opens the last one you
were working on.
You can make one of these start-up choices permanent (if
you want to skip the Welcome dialog each time you run the
program) by using the Options dialog. (See page 202). As a
shortcut to this, you can un-check the Show Welcome
Dialog checkbox at the bottom of that dialog, and you will
automatically create a new drawing each time you run
SmartDraw.
The Show Hints checkbox controls whether or not you see
beginner's hints while you are using the program. These are
dialogs that pop up automatically when you try to use
certain features of the program for the first time. They
attempt to explain what you are about to do and provide a
direct route to more detailed help.
Each hint will only appear once in each SmartDraw
session, and the hints can be switched off from any Hint
dialog. We recommend that you leave the Hints switched
on the first few times you use the program.
Once switched off, hints can be switched on again using the
Options dialog.
Getting Help
SmartDraw has extensive on-line help. There are several
ways to access the help system.
Help Menu
The Help menu shows several commands that open the
help window.
View Tutorial displays a quick, 12-lesson Tutorial on

drawing with SmartDraw. It covers just the basics to get
you up and running fast.
Contents shows the table of contents. Double clicking on
any of the underlined items takes you to the screen for that
topic.
Index presents the index to the help system. If you start to
type the name of the subject you are looking for, the
scrolling list of topics will show any words that match.
Using Help opens the help files for the Windows help
application. If this is not installed on your system (by
Windows), this command will not work.
Help in Dialogs
All dialogs contain a help button. Pressing this button, or
typing the F1 key, opens the help system showing a screen
that describes that dialog’s controls.
Context Sensitive Help

When a dialog is not showing, pressing Shift-F1, or
pressing the help button on the toolbar (shown at left), puts
you in the help state. While in this state, selecting any of
the menus, or pressing any of the buttons in the toolbar or
library window, opens Help with the appropriate screen
displayed. The Help State is canceled after you click or
show a help screen.
Tips
Tips are helpful hints that bring some of the richer features
of the program to your attention. A new tip is shown each
time that you see the Welcome dialog. You can also look at
tips at any time using the Tips command under the Help
menu. This presents the Tips Dialog.
The Tips Dialog

You can browse through all the tips using the Next and
Previous buttons. The Details button brings up a help
screen describing the tip in more detail.
SmartDraw Advisors
SmartDraw Advisors are special help screens that appear in
the Advisor Window when certain libraries and templates
are opened. They provide tips for using the template or
library in question.
The SmartDraw Advisor Window
The Advisor window always floats on top of the drawing

window. You can drag it (by its title bar) to any convenient
position. If you open (or simply click in) a second
document or library that has a different advisor screen, the
contents of the Advisor window will change to display the
new information.
Some Advisors have a button near the top of window
labeled "Click Here for an In-Depth Tutorial…". Clicking
this button will launch your web browser and point to the
SmartDraw Resource Centers where you will learn how to
Draw Anything Easily™. The SmartDraw Resource
Centers can teach everyone from the novice user to the
expert how to draw many kinds of diagrams. To view all
the SmartDraw Resource Centers visit
http://www.smartdraw.com.
If you close the Advisor window by clicking in the "X" box
in the title bar, you can choose to turn off this particular
advisor so that it does not show automatically in the future.
You can also turn off all advisors. If you make this choice
you can turn them on again using the Options Dialog (see
page 201).
You can create your own advisors and associate them with
drawings and libraries. See page 200.
Creating a New Drawing

A new drawing is created (a) when you start the program,
or (b) when you press the New Drawing button on the
toolbar, or (c) when you use the New... command under the
File menu. In all cases, SmartDraw shows the New
Drawing Dialog.
The New Drawing Dialog

This shows a button for each type of drawing you can
create with SmartDraw.
If you double-click on a picture button (or select one with a
single click and then press Create Blank Drawing) you
create a new empty drawing space with the correct settings
for this kind of drawing. These settings include ruler
properties, line- and shape-linking properties, and
sometimes a special toolbar for this type of drawing.
If you don’t see a button for the type you want, select the
one that seems most similar.
The View Examples button allows you to select a
SmartDraw Template. A template is a drawing that already
contains objects, as well as the correct settings and
toolbars. Some templates are Example Drawings, while
others are designed to serve as a starting point (like an
empty form template that is ready to be filled in)..
There is a detailed discussion of how to modify the buttons,
or create your own, in New Drawing Buttons on page 195.
Selecting a Template
Pressing the View Examples button in the New Drawing
dialog takes you to the Template Dialog.
The Template Dialog

The Template Dialog allows you to preview each template
by selecting its name in the list. Once you have made your
selection, pressing the Create button creates a new untitled
document that has the same settings and contains the same
shapes as the currently selected template.
Templates are described in more detail on page 198.
Each drawing has its own scrollable window. Normally
drawing windows are opened so that they fill the entire
SmartDraw program window (they are maximized).
Depending on the settings on your system, you may have
up to 32 different drawings open at the same time.

Closing and Saving Drawings
You may close a drawing window using the Close
command under the File menu, or by clicking the window’s
close box in the title bar. If you have multiple drawings
open, you may close all windows at once using the Close
All command under the Window menu. Any changes you
have made to your drawing DO NOT become permanent
unless you save them. If you have made changes since you
last saved, you are reminded to save your drawing before
the window closes.
You can save drawings to a file on your hard disk using the
Save or Save As

Opening an Existing Drawing
Once a drawing has been saved to a file on disk, you can
re-open it using the Open command under the File menu or
by pressing the Open File button on the tool bar. These
commands show you the standard Windows Open Dialog.
The Open Dialog

You can also open the SmartDraw drawing files by simply
dragging them from the Windows Explorer and dropping
them anywhere in the SmartDraw window.
Emailing a Drawing
You may email a drawing by selecting the Send option
under the File menu or by pressing the Email to a Friend
button on the toolbar. Your default email client will
automatically open with the drawing attached. A link to
the free SmartDraw Viewer will be included in the body of
the email so even if the recipient does not have SmartDraw,
they will be able to view and print your drawing. For more
information on the free SmartDraw Viewer visit
http://www.smartdraw.com/viewer.htm.

Drawings and Windows
Each SmartDraw drawing has its own document window.
SmartDraw is a Multiple Document Interface (MDI)
application, and up to 32 drawing windows can be open at
the same time.
When these windows are maximized, as is usually the case,
the front-most window covers the entire screen, or program
window, so that none of the other drawing windows can be
seen. This can be changed using the commands under the
Window menu.
Cascade Windows and Tile Windows commands both
show all the drawing windows, the former by overlapping
them, the latter by dividing up the program window.
The remaining items on the Window menu are the names of
the open drawings. Selecting one of the items brings that
drawing to the front.
All menu, and other, commands apply only to the front-
most drawing.
Right Mouse Button Menus

Clicking with the right mouse in the document window
displays a context-sensitive menu. The contents of this
menu depend on what you have clicked on. You will find
this a convenient shortcut to many of the features found on
the main menu bar.
The Program Toolbar

The Program Toolbar lies above any drawing windows
and below the menu bar.
The Program Toolbar

The program toolbar can be shown or hidden by selecting
the Show Toolbar item under the View menu.

The buttons on the top row are shortcuts for menu
commands. You can find out what each one does by
holding the cursor over a button for a second or more. A
small yellow window pops up describing its purpose. This
is called a ToolTip.
The buttons in the second row are used for drawing. One of
these buttons appears to be pushed in, indicating that this
button is selected. The button selected determines what will
happen when you click with the mouse in the drawing.
When the arrow button is selected, clicking in the drawing
selects, moves or resizes existing objects.
When the multiple selection button is selected, clicking on
an object selects it without deselecting other selected
objects. This makes it easy to select more than one object at
a time.
When the text button is selected, clicking on a shape opens
it for text entry. If you click in the background of the
drawing, you create a new background text object.
When the line button is selected, clicking and dragging in
the drawing draws a straight line. Dragging and Dropping
also draws a line.
When the arc button is selected, clicking and dragging in
the drawing draws an arc of a circle. Dragging and
Dropping also draws an arc.
When the segmented line button is selected, clicking and
dragging in the drawing draws a segmented line. Dragging
and Dropping also draws a segmented line.
When the curve button is selected, clicking and dragging in
the drawing draws a curved version of a segmented line.
Dragging and Dropping also draws a curve.
When the Connector button is selected, clicking and
dragging in the drawing draws an Automatic Connector.
Automatic Connectors are described in more detail in
Automatic Formatting with Connectors on page 124.
The remaining buttons draw the shape shown on their face.
The shape buttons can be configured to show any of the 24
standard shapes, and to control the default size and
proportions of the shapes that are dragged and dropped.
You can change the button settings, by double clicking on
the button, or selecting the Toolbar item under Tools
menu. This is described in Changing the Toolbar on page
203.
The Document Toolbar

A Document Toolbar appears at the top of a document
window. When the document is maximized, the document
toolbar appears to be a third toolbar below the program
toolbar.
Document Toolbar below the Program Toolbar.

A document toolbar is a SmartDraw Library window that
has been dragged to the top a window and “docked” there.
It behaves just like a library window and is fully
customizable. Many of the built-in templates have their
own specialized toolbar.
Document toolbars are described in more detail on page
134.
Rulers and Grids

Rulers are normally displayed along the top and left edges
of the drawing window.

Drawing Window with Rulers and Grid Showing
The divisions on the ruler define the spacing of a grid that
covers the drawing area. You can show or hide the grid
using the Show Grid command under the View menu. The
same grid (whether showing or not) controls the spacing of
the snaps. You can also print the grid behind your drawing
by selecting the Print the Grid checkbox from the Page
Setup Dialog.
The top-left corner, where the rulers cross, shows a digital
display of the current position of the cursor in the units of
the ruler.
Clicking in a ruler displays a temporary dotted line, called a
Guide, that follows the position of the cursor. This can be
used to measure the position of an object in the drawing.
Clicking in the corner, where the two rulers cross, and then
dragging displays two of these lines forming a "cross hair"
arrangement.
Symbol Library Windows

Symbol Library Windows contain symbols that can be
added to SmartDraw drawings, just like any of the standard
shapes on the toolbar.
Groups of symbols are stored in Libraries. Libraries are
usually groups of similar symbols that are used for a
particular type of drawing. SmartDraw has hundreds of
libraries with symbols for flow charts, computer networks,
floor plans, clip art, engineering, geometric shapes, and
many more.
Once a library has been opened, its symbols are displayed
in a Library Window that “floats” above the drawing. Up
to 16 library windows can be open at the same time, each
showing the contents of a different library. The Libraries
menu shows the most recent libraries that were opened and
shows a check mark next to the names of those that are
currently open. Selecting one of these menu items either
opens it or brings it to front.
Any library window that was left open when the last
drawing was closed is always re-opened automatically (in
the same location) whenever a drawing is opened again.
A SmartDraw Library Window

The library window shows rows of buttons, each displaying
a different symbol from the current library. The name of
the current library is shown in the window title bar.

All of the libraries, templates and example drawings that
are included with SmartDraw are shown in the SmartDraw
Explorer panel on the left of the drawing area. You can
show or hide this panel using the View menu, but it is
shown by default.

The SmartDraw Explorer Panel
The panel shows the libraries and templates installed as

icons in an explorer-like tree organized into categories.
Double clicking on a library icon or dragging it into the
drawing area opens the library window. Double clicking or
dragging a template icon into the drawing area opens the
template into a new window. The SmartDraw Explorer is
described in much more detail on page 66.
Undo
Almost any change you make to a drawing can be undone
using the Undo command, under the Edit menu.
When you undo, the undo menu item changes to Redo.
Using Redo returns the program to its state before the undo
command was used. Repeated use of Undo toggles the
program between the current state and the state before the
most recent operation.
If the command is gray, there is no previous state to return
to.
The Undo button on the toolbar can also be used to perform
an undo or redo.

Changing the Page Size and
Orientation
All SmartDraw drawings have the same 50x50 inch
drawing area. This fixed area is divided up into “tiles”
equal in size to the printable area of the printer paper
currently selected.
Unless your drawing is large, you normally work only with
one page in the top left corner of the 50x50 area. However,
this system allows you to draw very large charts that flow
across many pages, print them out on normal paper, and
then join the sheets together to re-create the drawing at full
size.
You can change the size and landscape/portrait setting of
the pages using the Page Setup command under the File
Menu. Just select a new paper size and orientation using
the Page Setup dialog. This will not change your drawing
area, but it will change the way the drawing is printed out.
You can see the page boundaries in the drawing area as
dotted lines. Change the View to Fit to Window to see this
quite clearly.
Page Margins
Because SmartDraw drawings are often printed on several
pages and then re-assembled again into one large chart,
SmartDraw always prints on as much of the page as is
allowed by the printer.
Most printers reserve a small margin of about ¼” on each
page that cannot be printed on.
If your drawing fits onto just one page and you want larger
margins than this, simply leave extra space at the edges of
your drawing. You can center your drawing on the first
page using the Center Drawing on Page command under
the Arrange menu.

Storing Two or More Drawings in
the Same Document
Because SmartDraw supports 24 or more pages per
document, you may be tempted to put independent
drawings on different pages in the same file.
Don’t do this! Store each independent drawing in
its own document.
The multiple page feature of SmartDraw is intended to
allow you to draw one drawing, larger than a single page. It
is not intended to allow you to put 6 different flowcharts in
one file. Commands like Center Drawing on Page and
Print on One Page assume that the contents of a file are
one drawing. There is nothing to gain by storing multiple
drawings in one file. Put all the drawings you want to print
separately in their own drawing file.
If you have already put more than one drawing in the same
file, it is easy to separate them using Copy and Paste as is
explained on page 163.
Default Settings
In SmartDraw you change the default characteristics (color,
thickness, font, etc.) for new objects by changing the
characteristics of an existing object.
When you change a property of an existing object, such as
the fill color of a shape, the next shape you create will have
this fill color automatically. When you change a property,
you change the default setting for new shapes and lines at
the same time.
The few exceptions to this rule are specialized settings that
users are unlikely to want as a default.
You can also set the initial defaults for new drawings. This
is described in Settings for Empty Drawings on page 199.

Exiting SmartDraw
You can exit SmartDraw by using the Exit command under
the File menu. You can also click in the program window
close box. Before the program quits, you are prompted to
save any open drawings that have been changed.
The Basics of Flow Charting

Flow charts are diagrams that portray the flow of
information and the decision-making process that controls
the flow. While many styles of flow-charting have
developed, each with its own set of specialized symbols,
most processes can be represented using just a few simple
symbols.
This represents an activity such as "signing a check", or

Process
"requesting a bid".
Alternate
This represents an alternate type of process. You can use
Process the two types of process symbols to classify processes into
two groups: customer vs. supplier, for example.
This is used to represent a decision that must be made.

Decision Lines representing different decisions are often drawn
coming out of some of the 4 different points in the shape.
This symbol is used to represent information coming in and

Input/ going out of the system, such as a customer order (input) or
Output a product (output).
This symbol is used to represent printed information

Document generated by the system such as an invoice or other report
(output).

This symbol is used to connect multiple lines together, or
Conn when labeled with a letter, to indicate that the flow
-ector continues at the connector with the same letter on another
page, or somewhere else in the system.
This symbol represents the starting or ending point of the

Terminal
system. It is usually labeled "Start" or "End".

The SmartDraw Quick Tutorial
SmartDraw Quick Tutorial: The

Basics of SmartDraw in 12 Easy
Lessons
What Can I Do With SmartDraw?
SmartDraw is the easy-to-use graphics program that takes the
drawing out of drawing. With SmartDraw you simply drag and
drop lines and shapes with your mouse to create beautiful,
professional-looking drawings and diagrams:
Plus:
• Circuit Diagrams
• Fishbone Diagrams
• Chemical Formulae
• Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Diagrams
• Maps
• Flyers, Invitations, Signs, Certificates
• Timelines
• Many other types of business and technical graphics
Drawing Made Easy

SmartDraw automatically aligns shapes, lines and text for you. Its
built-in library of design styles lets you pick professional-looking
color schemes, shadows, and textures with the click of a mouse.
You’ll find over 30,000 ready-made shapes and images in the
32 • The SmartDraw Quick Tutorial SmartDraw User's Guide

ymbol Libraries, and you can even add your own, for a truly
limitless collection.
Working with Other Programs

SmartDraw works as a stand-alone program, and as part of the
Microsoft Office, and other programs that support Object Linking
and Embedding (OLE). You can insert a SmartDraw drawing
directly into Microsoft Word for Windows with Cut & Paste, or
with the Insert Object command.
Tutorial Lesson 1: Starting the

Program
When you run SmartDraw, you are presented with the Welcome
Dialog. (A dialog is window that gives you choices.) You can
choose to Start a New Drawing or Open an Existing Drawing.
If you Start a New Drawing, SmartDraw displays the Create a
New Drawing dialog. You can start your drawing with an Example
or Template (a ready-made drawing that serves as a “starting
point”), or you can simply click Create Blank Drawing to start
with an empty page.
The “Create a New Drawing” dialog
If you don’t see a button for the kind of drawing you want, you can
press More to see additional types. If none of the available types
are exactly what you want, just pick the one most similar.
To create a new blank drawing, just click on the button for the
desired type, then click Create Blank Drawing. If you want to
see some ready-made examples or templates for your chosen type
of drawing, click “View Examples.”
SmartDraw User's Guide The SmartDraw Quick Tutorial • 33

The Template Dialog
Clicking View Examples displays the Template Dialog. You can

choose from the list of examples and templates available for your
type of drawing. Finally, click Create to start your drawing with
the chosen Template.
Tutorial Lesson 2: Basic Drawing

You begin most drawings by dragging Shapes from a library or
Toolbar and dropping them on the page. With the left mouse
button, click down on the desired shape on the SmartDraw toolbar;
drag the shape into the drawing area, and release.
Dragging a rectangle from the Toolbar

You can connect shapes with Lines. To connect two shapes with a
straight line, click on the Straight Line Tool on the Toolbar
and release.

Now your cursor looks like a pencil. Touch the pencil to the
edge of one shape and click down with the mouse (you’ll see black
dots on the edge of the shape). Drag the pencil to the edge of
another shape, and release.
The black dots are Connection Points.

These points mark the places where a shape can be attached to a
line or another shape. When you see Connection Points, you know
your shape is ready to be attached to something. The Anchor
Symbol appears when a Line is anchored to the edge a shape.
Once connected, lines and shapes stay connected, even if they are
moved or stretched.
(Note: if your lines don’t stay connected to your shapes, make sure
“Allow Lines to Link,” under the Arrange menu, is turned on.)
Infinite Connection Points

If you want more Connection Points on a particular shape, you can
choose Connection Points from the Shapes menu and select
Infinite Connection Points. This allows you to attach lines to any
point on the shape’s perimeter.
Dropping Shapes on Lines

You can also "drop" a shape on a line, when Allow Shapes to
Link to Lines is turned on under the Arrange menu.

Dropping a Shape on a Line
The center point of the shape will attach to the line. Once attached,
the shape will stay with the line if the line is moved. You can slide
the shape along the line like a bead on a string. This is ideal for
making electrical circuits and other engineering diagrams.
Repeating an Operation (or, Making a Toolbar Button

“Stick”)
When you need to perform the same operation several times in a
row (for example, drawing a series of lines), you need not select
the same button on the Toolbar time after time. To make a Toolbar
button “stick” in the selected position, hold the Shift Key while you
click on it.
Tutorial Lesson 3: Selecting Objects

Before you can move, stretch, color, or manipulate a line or shape
on your page, you must Select it. The Selection Tool (at the far
left of the Toolbar) is your normal cursor. To Select a line or
shape on the page, simply click on it with the Selection tool.
A selected object has black Selection Handles at the corners.
By dragging these handles, you can stretch or resize the object.
Growing an object
A selected object also has a Rotation Handle.
By dragging the rotation handle, a shape or line can be rotated to
any angle.

Selecting Multiple Objects
You can select several objects at one time. (This is useful for
Grouping objects or for applying a common property, like a color,
to all of them).
SmartDraw offers three ways to select several objects:
1) Hold the Shift-Key down while clicking on each object in turn
with the normal selection tool.
2) Choose the Multiple Selection Tool on the toolbar (beside
the regular selection tool) and click on a series of objects with it.
3) Trace an imaginary “box” around the group of objects with the
mouse. Click in an empty area of the page, hold the mouse button
down, and drag the mouse until the dotted box encloses the objects
you want to select. Then release. All of the objects inside the box
will be selected.
Boxing is useful for deleting unwanted objects from your page.

Simply trace a box around the area you want to delete, then hit the
delete key.
Select All
You can select all the objects in your drawing at once by choosing
Select All from the Edit menu.

Tutorial Lesson 4: Using Lines
SmartDraw has four basic types of lines.
The Straight Line draws a straight line between two points. In
Lesson 1, we connected two shapes with a straight line. You can
also connect lines to other lines.
The Arc draws a section of a circle, of any size and curvature
you want. You can bend the arc (using its handles) create anything
from a straight line, to a complete circle of any desired radius.
Some of the things you can do with an Arc
The Segmented Line attaches itself perpendicularly to objects.

It travels from point A to point B in straight segments with 90-
degree turns. (Don’t worry if it flops around while you’re drawing
it. When you finally anchor it, it will fall neatly into place.)
The Curved Line attaches itself perpendicularly to objects, and

it travels from point A to point B in a smooth curve.
Change Line Shape

Any line in your drawing can be instantly converted to a line of
another type by using the Change Line Shape command under the
Lines menu.

Tutorial Lesson 5: Adding Text to
Your Drawings
SmartDraw makes it easy to add text to your drawings. If you
want the text to appear inside an object, simply select the object
(click on it) and start typing. Your text will automatically appear
inside the object, and it will stay there even when the object is
moved.
If you type more text than the object can hold, the text will
automatically shrink (to a minimum size that you can control). Or,
if you choose, your shapes can grow to accommodate more text as
you type. You control this behavior using the Text Entry
Properties command under the Shapes menu.
Objects can grow to accommodate text
Or text can shrink to fit the object

By default, your text will appear in the center of your objects. But
you can always change the position and alignment of the text with
the Alignment feature on the Text menu.
The text alignment menu

Editing Text
To modify a piece of existing text, double-click on it to enter the
Editing mode. All of the normal Windows text editing conventions
apply: Dragging with the mouse selects text. Selected text can be
cut, deleted or copied. The font, size, style and color of selected
text can be changed using commands on the Text menu.
Adding Text to Lines

SmartDraw makes it easy to label the lines in your drawings. As
with shapes, you can add text to any line by selecting the line
(clicking on it) and typing text.
The text stays attached to the line, even when the line or its
adjoining shapes are moved.
Background Text Objects

Text in SmartDraw does not have to be attached to a shape or line.
You can create Background Text Objects, free-floating,
independent objects that can be moved, rotated, or repositioned
anywhere in your drawing.
To create a Background Text Object, first select the Text Tool

by clicking on it. Then click once anywhere in the empty
background of your drawing. A blinking “insertion cursor” will
appear. Enter your text, then click once in an empty area of your
drawing to end the text entry session. Any text you typed will
become a free-floating object. You can move, rotate, or reposition
this text object anywhere in your drawing.

Tutorial Lesson 6: Colors, Shading,
Borders, Arrowheads
You can fill a SmartDraw shape with color or change the weight,
style and color of its borders. Select the shape, then choose the
appropriate command from the Shapes Menu.
Lines can be modified using the Lines menu. You can change the
weight and style of a line, or put arrowheads on it with the
Arrowheads command. Each end of a line can have a different
kind of arrowhead.
Tutorial Lesson 7: Automatic

Connectors (the Easy Way to Draw
Perfect Charts)
The Automatic Connector is a special kind of line that
automatically connects several shapes together into evenly spaced
patterns.
To use a new connector, drag and drop a connector from the

toolbar onto the page. Then drag a shape from the tool bar and
drop it on the connector, so it looks like this:
Then drag another shape to the connector, and another, so it looks

like this:

The connector arranges the shapes in a straight line and spaces
them evenly.
To change the connector’s shape, select the connector line, then
choose Change Connector Shape from the Lines menu. Choose
from the array of connector shapes:
Loose Ends
The ends of the connector stick out so they can be attached to other
objects. To get rid of the loose ends, select the connector line, then
grab the end and tuck it under the nearest line or shape.
To get the end back, select the connector and pull the end out from
the nearest line or shape.
Lines (and connectors) can be attached to a connector to make a
hierarchy of levels.

Adding Shapes to a Connector
When a shape or line is moved near a connector, Link Points
appear, and the outline of the moving object jumps to the closest
link point, showing its position if linked.
Releasing the mouse attaches the object to the connector, inserting
the object at the link point.
Linking to a Connector
Moving a shape away from the connector disconnects it, and the
shapes still linked to the connector draw together to fill the space.
Breaking a Link to a Connector

Dragging a shape from one link point to another changes the order
of the shapes.

Re-arranging a Link to a Connector
Tutorial Lesson 8: How to Line

Things Up
SmartDraw can automatically arrange the objects in your drawings
into neat, regular patterns. First, Select the objects you want to
arrange. Do this by clicking on each object in turn with the
Multiple Selection Tool.
The last object you click is called the Target Object. It has black
selection handles. When you use Align or Make Same Size (under
the Arrange menu), all the selected objects will be aligned or re-
sized to match the Target Object.
When you choose Space Evenly, the objects at each end of a series
stay fixed, and the others are spaced evenly between them.
Results after using: Align, Make Same Size, and Space Evenly
Using Grid Snaps

Behind the SmartDraw page is a Grid, an invisible set of lines that
can help align your objects. To see the Grid, select Show Grid
from the View Menu. When you draw with Use Snaps turned on
(Arrange menu), the objects in your drawing automatically align
themselves with the nearest Grid line. This makes it easy to get
straight lines and neat arrangements.
Using the Define Rulers and Grid command (View menu), you can
choose which point in your objects aligns with the grid (you can
snap to either the center or top left corner).
To position your objects freehand, without using to the grid, turn
off Use Snaps under the Arrange menu.

Making Fine Adjustments in Position
To move any line or object in the smallest possible increments (1
pixel at a time) select the object you want to move, and “nudge” it
with the arrow keys. This technique is much more precise than
moving with the mouse.
Other Commands on the Arrange Menu

• Flip (mirror) an object.
• Rotate an object to a specific angle (permitting greater
precision than the manual Rotation Handle.)
• Send to Back, or Send to Front. If the object you want is
hidden behind another, select the obstructing object and Send
to Back.
• Allow Lines to Link - When this is on, lines “link” and stay
connected to lines or shapes.
• Allow Shapes to Link - When this is on, shapes “link” and stay
connected to each other.
• Allow Shapes to Link to Lines - When this is on, shapes “link”
and stay connected to lines. They can be moved up and down
the line like beads on a string.
Tutorial Lesson 9: Grouping and Un-

Grouping Objects
Sometimes several objects are more conveniently handled as a
Group. When objects are Grouped, they are treated as a single
unit. They maintain their positions relative to each other, even
when moved or rotated. A change made to one applies to all.
To Group several objects, first select them all (using the Multiple
Selection Tool). Then select Group from the Arrange menu.
Once Grouped, the objects can no longer be selected individually.

If you rotate or re-size a group, all the objects rotate or re-size
together. If you change a property (like a color), all objects in the
group change.
To use the Grouped objects individually, you must UnGroup them.
Select the Group, then pick UnGroup from the Arrange menu.

Tutorial Lesson 10: Using the
Libraries
SmartDraw has hundreds of Symbol Libraries, containing special
shapes, objects, and pieces of clip-art ready to be dropped into
your diagrams.
Clicking on the Open Library button on the Toolbar, or

choosing Open SmartDraw Library from the Libraries menu,
opens the SmartDraw Explorer. This is normally already open.
You can see all your SmartDraw libraries and templates in the
Explorer Tree.
As your mouse hovers over each library in the tree, a Preview

pops up showing the contents of that library.
Double-click the library to open it, or drag it to the drawing area.
The newly opened library floats above your document. You can
move it by dragging on the title bar of the library Window.
A floating Library Window

Docking
If you drag a library window to the top of your document window,
it will Dock and become a Document Toolbar. You can Detach a
docked toolbar by right-clicking on it and selecting Detach.
Document Toolbar below the Program Toolbar

The Document Toolbar is a Library of symbols appropriate to a
particular kind of diagram. It appears below the Program Toolbar
(the “normal” toolbar) at the top of the SmartDraw Window.
Drag and Drop from Libraries

Drag shapes and objects from the library onto your page (by
clicking and dragging with the mouse), just as you would from the
Toolbar.
Adding Shapes to Libraries

You can add a shape or symbol (even one you created) to any
SmartDraw Library. Open the library to which you want to add
the shape. Then simply drag the shape from your page and drop it
in the library.
If the shape is a new one that you created, you can use the Join to
Make a New Shape command (Lines menu) to join your separate
lines into a shape that SmartDraw recognizes as a single unit.
Drawing To Scale
Objects in libraries can automatically scale themselves to your
drawing as you add them.
To use auto-scaling, double-click on any symbol button in a
floating library window to bring up the Edit Symbol dialog. Click
on Scale to Ruler Settings and type in the real-world size of your
object.
Make sure the ruler settings for your drawing are set to the
appropriate scale (see Define Rulers and Grid under the View

menu). When you add the object to the drawing, it will scale itself
according to the ruler settings.
For example, if a drawing has rulers set so that one screen inch is
equivalent to 48 inches, then a 36-inch desk symbol will be sized
automatically to be 0.75 inches long in the drawing.
This is useful for scaled drawings like Floor Plans.
Creating New Libraries

To create a Library of your own, select Create New Library from
the Libraries menu. You will be prompted for the name and
location of your new library. (For more details, see Libraries, New
in the SmartDraw Help.)
Add shapes to your new Library by dragging them from your page,
or from other libraries. You can make a custom library of the
shapes you use most often, and Dock it as a toolbar for your
convenience.
Tutorial Lesson 11: Tables and

Forms
You can create a table by clicking the Table Button on the
toolbar, or by selecting Add New Table from the Tables menu.
Tables are particularly useful for creating timelines, organizational
charts, software diagrams, and business forms.
Adding a new table presents the Format Table Dialog, where you
define the properties of your new table:
The Format Table Dialog

You can choose from among the ready-made table formats, or
define your own by specifying the number of rows and columns.
Click OK to add the new table to your drawing.
You can even insert tables inside shapes, to create multiple text-
entry areas:
Different Shapes Containing the Same 2x4 Table

You can manipulate a table’s rows, columns and cells in countless
ways. You can join, split, or color the cells. You can drag the cell
dividers to create wider or narrower rows and columns. You
“lock” the text in certain cells so it can’t be modified (very useful
for creating the prompts in business forms.) SmartDraw can even
automatically fill in the cells with numbers, dates, days of the
week, months of the year, and other common data patterns, saving
you the trouble of typing long series of data.
YES
Some different table formats

You can even create business forms containing “live” data fields
that can be filled-in on-screen:

This entire business form consists of a single table
To learn more about the powerful features of SmartDraw’s Tables,

browse through the commands under the Table menu or see
Adding Tables to a Drawing.
Tutorial Lesson 12: The Professional

Finish (Colors and Shadows)
SmartDraw provides dozens of pre-formatted Styles to give your
drawings a polished, professional look. Choose Colors and
Shadows from the Edit menu to see a list of styles you can choose
from.
Selecting a style affects your entire drawing—each shape and line
in the drawing is modified to match the selected Style. You can
choose from different background colors, border and fill colors,
shadows, and three-dimensional (raised and lowered) edge effects.
Here are just a few examples:

Publishing your Drawing
Now that you've added the final touches to your drawing, share it!
With SmartDraw you can publish your diagram to the web or
email it to anyone using the free SmartDraw Viewer.
To publish your drawing on a web site, select Export from the File
menu and save in HTML format. For more information see
Exporting Images to Web Pages on page 172.
To email your drawing, select the Email to a Friend icon on the

toolbar. Your default email client will automatically open with the
drawing attached. A link to the free SmartDraw Viewer will be
included in the body of the email so even if the recipient doesn't
have SmartDraw, they will be able to view and print your drawing.
For more information on the free SmartDraw Viewer visit
http://www.smartdraw.com/viewer.htm
Enjoy SmartDraw
We hope this quick overview has helped you get started with
SmartDraw. For complete information on SmartDraw’s features,
which go well beyond those described here, consult the rest of the
on-line or printed SmartDraw User’s Guide.

Drawing with SmartDraw
Adding Objects
A SmartDraw drawing is made up of shapes and lines. Shapes and
lines are called Objects.
You add shapes and lines to your drawing using the bottom row of
buttons on the program toolbar,
The Line and Shape Toolbar
Or from Symbol Libraries, show in floating windows above the

drawing.
Symbol Library Window
There are two ways to add shapes and lines to your drawing:
Drag and Drop

This method requires only one mouse click and gives you a shape
or line with a standard size and shape. This is best explained with
an example.
To add a rectangle shape, first click on the rectangle button on the
toolbar without letting go of the mouse button. While still holding
down the mouse button, move the cursor onto your drawing. (This
is called dragging with the mouse.) A rectangle shape follows the
cursor. Once you let go of the mouse button, a new rectangle is
added to your drawing.
52 • Drawing with SmartDraw SmartDraw User's Guide

Drag and Drop
Double clicking on the shape button can set the size of the shapes
you drag from the toolbar.
Lines created by Drag and Drop are always the same size and
shape. (Lines are usually drawn using the Pencil method instead,
described below).
Symbols can also be dragged and dropped in the same way by
clicking on the buttons in a library window.
Pencil Drawing
The pencil method requires two clicks but gives you full control
over the size and shape of the object that you draw.
To add a rectangle shape using this method, first click on the
rectangle button in the toolbar, and then let go of the mouse button.
As the cursor is moved into the drawing window it changes to the
pencil cursor. Now if you click in the drawing window and keep
the mouse button pressed and you move the mouse, a rectangle is
drawn, as if the mouse were a pencil. This method can be used for
shapes, lines and library symbols.
For shapes that can be stretched to any proportion, like rectangles,
perfectly square versions can be made using the pencil draw
method. To do this, simply hold down the Ctrl key while drawing
the shape. This trick with the Ctrl key also applies when resizing a
shape with the mouse.
Sticky Tool Selection

Normally, after you have drawn an object using the pencil
method, the selection (pointer) tool is selected automatically. If
you want to draw several copies of the same kind of object, you
can force the drawing tool that you are using to remain selected by
SmartDraw User's Guide Drawing with SmartDraw • 53

holding the Shift key down the first time you click on it. Holding
the Shift key down when you select any drawing tool, causes it to
remain selected until you click on another tool, or drag and drop a
shape.
Drawing Lines and Curves

Lines and curves are usually drawn using the pencil method. There
are four kinds of line: straight lines, arcs, segmented lines and
curved lines.
Straight Lines
Straight lines connect any two points. They may be drawn at any
angle, but will snap to perfectly horizontal or vertical directions if
drawn close to these directions.
Lines may have one of three different shapes shown on the
Change Line Shape menu.
Line Types
A straight line is initially drawn as a plain line. You can change its
shape by selecting it and applying the Change Line Shape
command.
Arcs
Arcs connect any two points with the arc of a circle. Like straight
lines, arcs can be rotated and converted to other line shapes using
the Change Line Shape command. The degree of curvature of an
arc can be adjusted using the special selection handle at its center.
Adjusting the Curvature of an Arc
Segmented Lines
Segmented lines are designed to connect shapes. When linked to a
shape (see Connecting Lines and Shapes on page 119) the end

linked becomes perpendicular to the side of the shape that it is
linked to (i.e. it sticks out from the side). If the other end is linked
to another shape, it also becomes perpendicular to the side of the
shape that it is attached to.
Moving the shapes around causes the segmented line to change its
shape to maintain the directions of its starting and ending
segments. Segmented lines can have from 1 to 5 segments,
depending on the arrangement of the shapes linked.
You can change the shape of segmented lines using the Change
Line Shape menu. The Flip command (page 64) can also be used
to create additional variations.
Change Line Shape

You can also change segmented lines into straight lines and curves
using this command.
Curved Lines
Curved lines are the same as segmented lines with rounded corner.
They too are designed primarily to link two shapes together. They
follow the same rules as segmented lines, always maintaining a
direction that sticks straight out from the side of the shape they are
linked to.
When not linked, a curve is initially a simple “S”. The Change
Line Shape command can be used to change its shape to a semi-
circle, an “S” curve, or any other line shape.
Automatic Connectors
An Automatic Connector is a special type of line that changes
shape as other objects are linked to it. The best way to explain this
is to consider an automatic connector designed to create the classic
horizontal organization chart, as an example:

Adding a new shape to an automatic connector
As the figure shows, dropping a shape on an automatic connector

automatically adds the shape to the group of shapes on the
connector, with all necessary lines added automatically.
Connectors are described in their own chapter, Formatting with
Automatic Connectors, on page 124.
Connectors are either perfectly horizontal or vertical. The
arrangement of the shapes attached to them can be changed using
the Change Connector Shape command on the Lines menu. This
replaces the Change Line Shape command when a connector is
selected. Connectors cannot be changed into the other line types
and vice-versa. The Flip command (page 64) can also be used to
create additional variations.
Change Connector Shape
Selecting Objects
Before any menu operations, such as color changes, can be applied
to an object, it must first be selected.
Selected objects are shown with Handles on the corners and sides
as shown below.
The most recently selected object is always shown with solid

(black) handles and is called the Target. Other selected objects are
shown with hollow handles. The target object is called the target

because other selected objects are aligned or re-sized to match it
when you use the Align and Make Same Size commands.
Objects that are linked to other objects have round handles at the
connected points.
Objects are selected by clicking on them with the mouse while the
Arrow button on the toolbar is depressed. Shapes filled with the
transparent color must be clicked on their border.
Selecting an object by clicking on it de-selects all other selected
objects unless you hold the Shift or Ctrl key down while you click.
With the Shift or Ctrl key held down, clicking on a selected object
de-selects it.
Selecting Multiple Objects

The easiest way to select more than one object is to first click on
the Multiple Selection tool on the toolbar. With this tool selected,
clicking on an object does not de-select others. You can select
more than one object by simply clicking on them one at a time.
Clicking in the background of the drawing cancels the selection of
the Multiple Selection tool.
You can also select more than one object by dragging the mouse
with the Arrow button depressed. To drag the mouse, hold the left
mouse button down and move the mouse. Then let the mouse
button up.
Dragging the mouse this way across the drawing window draws a
temporary dotted rectangle. Any objects completely enclosed by
this rectangle are selected once the mouse button is released.
Holding the Shift key down while dragging adds the enclosed
objects to any existing selection.
Sometimes, it’s hard to click on the object that you want because
other objects lie on top (or in front) of it. There are two ways to
overcome this:
You can select the objects on top and use the Send to the Back
command under the Arrange menu.
You can also drag around all the objects, selecting them all. Shift
clicking on the objects in the front now de-selects them, leaving
only the object you want still selected.
To select all the objects in a drawing use the Select All command
under the Edit menu.
Once selected, the colors, borders and other attributes of objects
can be changed using the menu commands. Selected objects can
also be cut, copied and duplicated. Typing from the keyboard when

a shape is selected adds text to it. These actions are described in
much greater detail later.
Moving Objects
Using the Mouse
You can move an object simply by clicking on it with the mouse,
and then moving the mouse, while keeping the mouse button
pressed down. An outline of the object follows the mouse as you
move it.
If you hold the Shift key down while you use the mouse to move
an object, it moves only horizontally or vertically (not diagonally).
Moving a Group of Objects

If more than one object is selected, clicking on one of them moves
all of the selected objects as a group. More than one object may
also be moved if the object clicked on is linked to others. When a
group of objects is moved, an outline of the rectangle that encloses
the group follows the mouse.
Using the Arrow Keys

You can use the arrow keys to move a selected object very
precisely. Typing an arrow key moves the object by one screen
pixel (1/100 of an inch at normal viewing magnification) with each
keystroke. The right and down arrows move the object to the right
and bottom. The left and up arrows move it to the left and up. If
more than one object is selected, all are moved.
Aligning Objects
The Align command under the Arrange menu can be used to align
all selected objects with the selected target object. This is
described in detail in the Arranging Objects section on page 115.
Spacing Objects Evenly

The Space Evenly command under the Arrange menu can be used
to arrange all selected objects so that they are separated by equal
distances. This is described in detail in the Arranging Objects
section on page 117.
Centering the Drawing on the Page

The Center Drawing on Page command under the Arrange menu
can be used to move all the objects in the drawing so that they are
centered in the minimum number of pages needed to print them.

This is described in detail in the Arranging Objects section on page
117.
Sizing Objects
Using the Mouse
To change the size and shape of an object you must first select it,
and then click on one of the selection handles (or black squares)
with the mouse. Moving the mouse, while keeping the mouse
button pressed down, moves the handle and changes the size of the
object.
Growing an Object
Only one object at a time can be resized this way.

Some shapes, like rectangles, can be sized to any proportion.
Others, like circles, can grow so as to maintain their proportions.
Handles drawn in the middle of the sides of the rectangle grow the
object only in the direction perpendicular to that side. Handles at
the corners grow in all directions for non-proportional shapes.
Proportional shapes (like circles) have no handles on their sides,
and their corner handles grow the shape only proportionately.
For shapes that can be stretched to any proportion, like rectangles,
perfectly square versions can be made by holding down the Ctrl
Key while dragging with the mouse.
Holding down the Shift Key forces them to grow in proportion to
their current shape.
For shapes that can normally only be sized proportionately,
holding down the Shift Key while dragging with the mouse allows
them to be sized to any proportion.
Sizing with the Arrow Keys

You can finely adjust the size of a selected object using the arrow
keys . Typing an arrow key, while holding down the Shift Key,
increases or decreases the size of the object by one screen pixel
(1/100 of an inch at normal viewing magnification) with each
keystroke. The right and down arrows increase the size at the right

and bottom. The left and up arrows decrease the size at the right
and bottom.
You can apply these changes to more than one object
simultaneously, by selecting more than one first.
Make Same Size

The Make Same Size command under the Arrange menu can be
used to make all selected objects the same size as the selected
target object. This is described in detail in the Arranging Objects
section on page 116.
Grouping
Objects may be combined into Groups. When grouped they may
be sized proportionately as a single object. This is described in
detail in the Creating Your Own Shapes section on page 149.
The Shape Properties Dialog

The Shape Properties Dialog allows you to change the sizing and
other behaviors of a shape.
Shape Properties Dialog

There are four choices of sizing behavior:
Proportional objects have only four grow handles (one at each
corner) and maintain their proportions when re-sized. Imported
images (and many library symbols) are initially set to resize
proportionally.

Horizontal Only objects have only two grow handles and can be
re-sized only in the horizontal direction.
Vertical Only objects have only two grow handles and can be re-
sized only in the vertical direction. This is good for objects that
represent vertical lines.
No restrictions allows objects to grow in all directions without
maintaining proportions. These objects have the usual 8 grow
handles.
The Change Colors box applies only to certain library symbols
and imported images and is described on page 164.
The Do not check spelling check box turns off (or on) spelling
correction for the text inside this particular shape. This is useful if
you want to keep spelling correction turned on for your drawing in
general, but want it off for a particular shape that contains a proper
name or some other text that is flagged as misspelled by the
spelling checker. When you group objects, spelling correction is
turned off for text inside the group. You can turn it back on again
with this setting.
The Position and Size Dialog

You can set the size and position of an object to an exact value
using the Position and Size Dialog. This allows you enter
dimensions and position for a single object in the same coordinate
system shown on the rulers (page 153). You show the dialog by
first selecting an object and then using the Position and Size
command under the Arrange menu.
The Position and Size Dialog

You can specify the left, top, right, and bottom of the shape in the
units shown.
Changing the left and top values also changes the right and bottom,
shifting them to maintain the same width and height.

The two radio buttons control whether changing the object's
bottom or right value changes the object’s size (by leaving the left
and top unchanged) or changes the object’s position (by changing
the left and top to maintain the dimensions).
Lines have position dialogs that differ from shapes, allowing you
to enter the length of the line.
Rotating Objects
All shapes, text and straight lines can be Rotated by any angle.
You can do this manually by selecting the rotation handle that
these objects show when selected. The cursor changes to the
“rotation” shape shown in the margin when positioned over a
rotation handle.
A Rotation Handle
Clicking on the rotation handle and dragging with mouse rotates
the shape about its center.
Rotating a Shape
When the Snap to Grid feature is turned on, the angle of rotation
snaps to an increment of 15 degrees (15, 30, 45 and so on.).
You can also rotate objects using the Rotate commands on the
Arrange menu The Rotate sub-menu provides commands to rotate
objects by 90 degrees in either direction, and to return an object to
the horizontal position.
The Set Angle command allows you to specify the exact angle of
rotation within one tenth of a degree, via the Set Rotation Angle
Dialog.

Set Rotation Angle Dialog
The rotation commands on the menu apply to all selected objects.
This allows you to rotate a group of objects by the same angle.
Furthermore, the angle shown in the Set Rotation Angle dialog is
the one associated with the last object selected (the target object,
described on page 56).
This feature allows you to align the rotation angle of a group of
objects to one particular object: Simply select the objects that you
wish to align, then, holding the Shift key down, select the target
object that you wish to align them to. Now select the Set Angle
command and press OK.
You can rotate straight lines, any shape, and most imported
images. Segmented lines, curves, bitmapped image objects, and
automatic connectors do not rotate. Also, objects linked to others
do not rotate. (Since they cannot maintain their link if they do!)
However, you can rotate a shape or line before you link it. Objects
that do not rotate do not show a rotation handle.
When an object is rotated, the text associated with it rotates too.
Rotated Shapes with Text

If you want the text in a rotated object to remain horizontal, you
can change it into a new (rotated) shape, before you add text. This
is described in Creating Your Own Shapes on page 148.

Flipping Objects
All objects, except bitmapped images, can be Flipped, either
horizontally or vertically.
Horizontal flipping changes an object as if it were reflected in a
mirror down its middle.
Horizontal Flipping
Vertical flipping changes an object as if it were reflected in a
mirror across its middle.
Vertical Flipping
Note that text is unaffected by flipping.
Flipping can be used to generate even more styles of connectors
and segmented lines than are available on the Change Connector
Shape and Change Line Shape menus.
Changing Connector Styles with the Flip Command
Deleting Objects
You can delete objects from a drawing by simply selecting them
and then typing either the Del key, or the Backspace. The Clear
command under the Edit menu has exactly the same effect.
Duplicating Objects
The Duplicate command, under the Edit menu, makes a copy of
the selected objects and adds them to the drawing, offset by a small
distance from the original objects.

Duplicating Two Objects
The duplicated objects are automatically selected so that they can
be moved as a group by clicking on one of them. If the newly
duplicated objects are moved with respect to their original copies,
the new distance between them and the original set is used as the
offset for further duplications. You can use this feature to create
rows and columns of evenly spaced lines or shapes very easily.
The illustration below shows the steps involved in making a
column of evenly spaced lines.


The SmartDraw Explorer shows a list of libraries, templates, and
examples in a panel on the left of each drawing. This panel is open
and visible by default.

You can close the panel by clicking in the close box at its top-right,
or by dragging the divider that separates the panel from the
drawing area all the way to the left. This divider can also be moved
to adjust the width of the panel. It can never be more than 50% of
the document window.
You can re-open the panel by using the Show Explorer command
on the View menu, by pressing the Open Library button on the
toolbar, or by selecting the Open Symbol Library command from
the Libraries menu.
66 • The SmartDraw Explorer SmartDraw User's Guide

The Explorer Tree Control
The SmartDraw Explorer panel contains a Windows Explorer-like
tree control that shows all of the libraries, templates and examples
installed on your system, organized into a hierarchy of categories.
Each category appears as a folder icon. If you click on a folder it
opens up showing either more folders representing sub-categories,
or icons for libraries and templates.
SmartDraw Explorer Tree Control

This organization lets you browse through each category looking
for the library or template that you want, like a table of contents.
Browsing is made easier still by the Preview images of the libraries
and templates that pop up as your mouse hovers over the library or
template icons.
Preview Images
Clicking on an open folder closes it again.

You can also open and close folders by clicking on the + and –
buttons next to the folder icons. Folders with + icons contain other
folders and clicking on the + opens them. An open folder
SmartDraw User's Guide The SmartDraw Explorer • 67

containing other folders has a – next to it. Clicking on this closes
the folder.
Searching the Tree

At the very top of the SmartDraw Explorer panel is the Search
Bar. Typing a word into this bar and pressing the Enter Key, or
clicking on the Go button in the bar, searches all of the libraries
and templates in the tree for matches to the word.
The Search Bar
In addition to their titles, every SmartDraw library and template

contains keywords that describe its content. These too are
searched. If browsing the tree is like looking in the table of
contents of a book, then using the Search Bar is like looking in the
index.
Once the search has been completed, the folders that contain
matching libraries or templates are expanded and shown in bold
with the search icon next to them:
Results of a Search
If you search with no search string, or no matches are found, and

you have installed previews of all libraries and templates, the
search icons and bolding are removed and the tree is closed up to
its default state. If however you have not installed previews of all
libraries and templates, the More Symbols and Examples dialog
box will appear prompting you to install free thumbnail previews

of thousands of SmartDraw symbols where you will likely find the
symbol you are searching for. You can also access this dialog by
selecting the More button to the right of the Search bar.
More Symbols and Examples Dialog
From the More Symbols and Examples dialog you may browse
symbols on our web site at SmartDraw.com or install all previews
with just one click. Note that free preview symbols display an
Unlicensed watermark until a license is purchased.
You can enter more than one word into the Search Bar, separated
by spaces or commas. SmartDraw finds matches for libraries that
contain any of the words, but not necessarily all of the words. (OR
not AND).
The search is not case-sensitive. (It doesn’t matter if the words are
in capital letters or not). Partial matches are found as long as the
word begins with the search word. For example, if you searched
for Form, matches would be found for Forms and Formula but not
Perform.
The first time you search, SmartDraw has to build the word index.
This can take several minutes. However, the next time you search,
finding the symbol you are looking for is almost instantaneous.
Each time you cause the tree to be rebuilt, either by command or
because you installed new collections, the word index also has to
be rebuilt the next time you search.

Opening Libraries and Templates
Once you find the desired library in the Explorer tree , you can
open and use it by simply dragging its icon to the drawing area.
You can also open it by double-clicking on the icon, or selecting it
and typing the enter key.
You can open a template in the same way. When you open a
template, it normally opens in a new document window.
Favorites
At the very top of the tree is a folder called Favorites. You can
drag library and template icons from the Libraries, Templates
and Examples section of the tree into Favorites. You can also add
an open library to your favorites using the Add To Favorites
menu item under the Libraries menu that shows in the library
window itself.
Your Favorites folder contains short cuts to any library or
template you add to it. It provides quick access to the libraries and
templates you use most often.
You can create your own sub-categories inside Favorites by
clicking on the folders with your right mouse button. (See page
70). You can also drag icons (and sub-folders) from one Favorite
sub-folder to another. You can organize this section of the tree
however you wish.
Because your Favorites folder contains only a short cut to the
library or template itself, you can clear or delete favorite short cuts
without deleting the libraries themselves.
Your Favorites folder is stored in your personal preferences and is
not shared with any other user.
Right Mouse Button Menus

Clicking on the icons in the SmartDraw Explorer with the right
mouse button displays a menu that depends on the type of icon
clicked-on.
Library and Template Icons

Right clicking on a library or template icon lets you open it, add it
to your favorites, or display a Preview that stays up until you click
somewhere else.

Favorite Library and Template Icons
Right-clicking on a library or template icon in your Favorites
folder lets you open it, remove it from your favorites, or display a
Preview that stays up until you click somewhere else.
The Favorites Folder

Right-clicking on the Favorites folder itself lets you clear all
favorites.
Favorites Sub-Folders
Right-clicking on a Favorites sub-folder lets you create your own
sub-folder within. If the sub-folder is one you created, you can also
delete it and rename it.
SmartDraw Explorer
Right-clicking on the SmartDraw Explorer folder at the top of
the tree lets you refresh the tree, clear the favorites or remove
unlicensed symbols. Refreshing the tree is not normally something
you want to do.
Refreshing the Tree

Closing the SmartDraw Explorer folder in the tree control and
then re-opening, causes the tree structure to be rebuilt. There is
rarely a reason to do this, since it will cause your next search to
rebuild the word index.
Sometimes installing new libraries or templates will cause this to
happen automatically.
If SmartDraw sometimes crashes when the tree is rebuilt, your
Windows system has a mismatched set of system files that manage
the tree control. You can normally correct this by installing
Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 (or above). See Troubleshooting on
page 211.
Previews and on-demand installation

SmartDraw’s preview files provide all the benefits of having
SmartDraw’s complete catalog of symbols available, while using
about 1% of the disk space required by the full libraries and
templates.
A preview is a copy of a library or template file that contains only
the ToolTip preview shown when you browse the tree and the
keywords used when you search. Previews let you browse and
search the catalog as if it were completely installed on your

system. Previews are shown in the tree with white instead of
yellow icons.
When you attempt to open a library or template preview file, you
are given the opportunity to install the full copy, using the Install
Dialog.
The Install Dialog
You can install either from your SmartDraw CD, or, if you are
connected to the Internet, by downloading directly from
smartdraw.com. Installing from smartdraw.com has the advantage
that you are always getting the most recent version of the library or
template.
If the library or template you are about to install requires a
Collection License that you don’t have, the Install Dialog warns
you. You can use unlicensed symbols and then later purchase a
license without having to repeat your work (images already placed
in documents become licensed when you install a Collection
license).. See page 74 for a complete description of Collection
Licensing.
Downloading Your Installation

If you choose to install by downloading, selecting your connection
speed gives you an estimate of the time required to complete the
download. Pressing the OK button presents the Download Dialog.

The Download Dialog
Press the Start Download button to begin the download and wait
for a window to appear that shows the progress of the download.
Progress Dialog
Once downloading has begun, you can close the Download Dialog
and continue with your work. When the download is successfully
completed the library or template you wanted to install will open
automatically.
You must have access to ftp to install from smartdraw.com. Some
corporate users have this service blocked. Talk to your network
administrator if you have difficulties.
Installing from the CD

If you choose to install from the CD, the CD Dialog appears. Place
the SmartDraw CD into your CD Drive and select its path using
the Browse button.

The CD Dialog
Pressing the Install button begins the install process. The library or
template that you want to install is opened automatically once the
install has successfully completed.
SmartDraw Collection Licenses

All of the SmartDraw libraries and templates are organized into
nine Collections covering specific subject areas such as Business
& Charting, Network Design and others. These appear as top-
level folders under Libraries Templates and Examples in the
SmartDraw Explorer tree.
All of the collections are freely available for download from
smartdraw.com. They are also included on the SmartDraw CD.
However to use them without restriction you must install a license
for each collection. SmartDraw Professional Plus includes all nine
licenses automatically.
Using Unlicensed Symbols

When you use a symbol or template that requires a license without
that license installed on your system, the symbols are displayed
superimposed with an unlicensed stamp.
Unlicensed Symbol

When you install a valid license for the collection that the symbol
belongs to, the unlicensed stamps go away. This happens even in
drawings that have been drawn with unlicensed symbols, so you
can use symbols in their unlicensed state without having to
recreate any of your work later when you obtain a license.
Removing Unlicensed Symbols

Both licensed and unlicensed symbols appear in the SmartDraw
Explorer tree. To view licensed symbols only, right-click on the
SmartDraw Explorer folder at the top of the tree and select
Remove Unlicensed Symbols...
The SmartDraw Explorer Right-Click
This will DELETE all unlicensed libraries, templates and previews

from the SmartDraw Explorer tree. Unlicensed symbols can be
restored by re-installing from your CD or by downloading from
smartdraw.com.
The Baseline Set

Some of the libraries and templates in a collection require no
license. SmartDraw includes selections from all of the collections
in a baseline set of libraries and templates that require no
additional licenses.
Every SmartDraw user has full, unrestricted use of these symbols
and templates.

Changing the Appearance of a
Drawing
Changing the Appearance of Shapes

The Shapes menu can be used to change the color and border style
of existing shape objects.
The first step is to select the shape or shapes you wish to change,
by clicking on them. (See Selecting Objects on page 56.) Selecting
a color from the Fill Color menu will change the fill color of any
selected shape. This color will also be the fill color of any new
shape added to the drawing afterward. Lines, Image objects and
symbols that are not re-colorable (See Changing the Settings for a
Symbol on page 135) are not affected by fill color.
The Color Menu

The fill color can be transparent, which means that the background
of the drawing shows through the shape.
You can also pick from any of the 16 million colors supported by
Windows using the More Colors selection.
Shapes have a border around their edge. This can be dotted,
dashed, or solid with several weights. Heavy borders always grow
towards the center of the shape.
Symbols that can be re-colored respond to border style changes by
changing their appearance. Those that do not, show a border
around the rectangle that encloses the drawing.
76 • Changing the Appearance of a Drawing SmartDraw User's Guide

Shapes may also have no border (None). These shapes must have a
different fill color than the background or they will not be visible.
The Border Color and Border Style menus change the
appearance of selected shape borders. The values selected also
become the default settings for the border of any new shape added
to the drawing.
Border Style Menu
The Shading menu is used to fill a shape with a hatched pattern.

The menu shows five hatched patterns and a plain (no hatching)
choice.
The Shading Menu

The hatched patterns use the border color for the hatching on a
background determined by the fill color (including transparent
fills). If a hatched pattern is selected and the border and
background colors are the same, the border color is changed to a
contrasting color.
Changing the Shape

The shape of an existing shape object can be changed to any of the
other 24 standard SmartDraw shapes, using the Shape command
under the Shapes menu. This displays the Change Shape menu.
SmartDraw User's Guide Changing the Appearance of a Drawing • 77

Change Shape Menu
Any selected shapes are converted to the shape chosen from this
menu. The command has no effect on library symbols or images.
Adjusting Shape Outlines

The outline of many of the standard toolbar shapes can be adjusted
(for example, the degree of roundness of rounded rectangles or the
angle between the vertical and horizontal sides of a parallelogram).
The defaults for these quantities can be set when editing the
toolbar. (See Changing the Toolbar on page 203.)
You can adjust the outlines of objects already in the drawing by
clicking on their Adjustment Handles.
Adjusting Shapes
To adjust the outline of an adjustable shape, click and drag on the
open diamond-shaped handle that appears when an adjustable
shape is selected. You can see the effect of the changes you are
making in real time as a temporary dotted image shows the new
outline of the shape. Release the mouse and the shape changes its
outline to match the dotted image.
Redesigning Shape Outlines

Shapes can also be completely decomposed into their component
lines and curves using the Edit Shape Outline command. . You
can use this feature to redesign the outline of a shape, and then join
the outline back into a new shape using the Join to Make a New
Shape command under the Line menu. This is described in more
detail on page 148.

Changing the Appearance of Lines
The Lines menu can be used to change the color and thickness of
selected straight lines, arcs, segmented lines, curved lines and
connectors.
The Line Style command changes the style. This can be dotted,
dashed, or solid with several weights.
The Line Color command changes the color of any selected lines.
Arrowheads
You may add arrowheads to either or both ends of any line. There
are 35 different built-in arrowhead styles, and you can also create
your own. The style, size and placement on the line may be set
using the Arrowhead Dialog. This is presented via the
Arrowheads... command under the Lines menu.

Arrowhead Dialog
The Arrowheads Dialog

The buttons lets you pick an arrowhead style for each end of the
line:
Left (Top)
Clicking on one of the 36 style buttons changes the type of
arrowhead that will appear on the left end (or top end if vertical) of
the lines currently selected. A preview of the effect of this
selection on a horizontal line is shown in the preview window. The
“None” selection results in no arrowhead at the left end.
Right (Bottom)
Clicking on these buttons changes the style of the right end (or
bottom end if vertical) of the lines currently selected.
Displacement
This property controls whether the end of a line with an arrowhead
is drawn to its full length or a little short. This is useful when lines
are linked to shapes. If the line is displaced, it does not appear to
touch the shape but still remains linked to it. This property can be
controlled independently for each end of a line, and does not apply
to ends with no arrowhead.
Size
Clicking on one of these three buttons controls the size of the
arrows and applies to both ends of the line.

Arrowheads in the Center of Lines
Three of the arrowhead styles place an arrowhead at the center of
the line instead of at the end.
Centered Arrowheads
Lines with different settings

If the Arrowhead dialog shows no setting for a property, then the
lines currently selected have different values for this property. For
example, if two lines have different right arrows, no right-arrow
buttons will appear to be pushed in when the dialog is displayed. If
you leave the style buttons un-pushed, but you push one of the size
buttons, then, when you press the OK button, both arrowheads will
change size but they will retain their different right arrow styles.
Once assigned, an arrowhead remains fixed on the end to which it
was assigned, despite any later changes in the line’s direction.
Creating Your Own Arrowheads

In addition to the 35 built-in arrowhead styles, you can create your
own. There are four steps involved:
1. Create an image for your arrowhead
Begin by drawing the symbol you want to use as an arrowhead,
either with SmartDraw, or with some other drawing program. You
can draw the symbol at a comfortable size. It need not be as small
as the eventual arrowhead. SmartDraw will eventually scale it to
the right size.
The arrowhead design should be for a right-facing horizontal
arrow. SmartDraw will handle transforming the image for other
directions. The arrowhead will eventually be drawn with
dimensions that are 1.75x longer than wide. For best results, draw
your symbol with that ratio of length to width.
New Arrowhead Image
2. Copy it to the clipboard

Use the Copy command to transfer your image to the clipboard
(page 163).
3. Open the arrowhead dialog
Select a line and use the Arrowheads command under the Lines
menu to open the arrowhead dialog.
4. Double-click on a right-facing button.
You may replace any of the standard arrowheads with your custom
design. Select the arrowhead you want to replace and double-click
on its right facing button. (When you replace an arrowhead on the
right-facing button you automatically replace it for the left-facing
button also.) You are presented with the Customize Arrowhead
Dialog.
Customize Arrowhead Dialog

You should see your design attached to the end of a line above the
Clipboard Picture radio button. Selecting this radio button
replaces the built-in arrowhead with your image. You can also use
this dialog to return to the standard arrowheads at any time.
There are two other choices you can make with this dialog: To
draw the outline of the custom arrowhead with the same thickness
and color as the line it is attached to, and to fill any shapes in the
design with the same color as the line.
Effect of Custom Arrowhead Dialog checkboxes
The effects of these choices are shown above.

Once you have assigned a custom arrowhead to a button in the
arrowhead dialog, you may assign it to any line in the normal way.
The arrowhead is stored in your SmartDraw preferences
(smartd4.opt) in your Windows directory. You can revert all of
your arrowhead settings back to their default using the Revert
Arrows to Default button in the arrowhead dialog
Changing Line Shape

Lines and Automatic Connectors can have many different shapes,
and you can convert one line shape into another using the Change
Line Shape and Change Connector Shape commands. Note than
you cannot change a line into an Automatic Connector, and vice-
versa. These commands are described in the section beginning with
Straight Lines on page 54.
Changing the Background Color

The background of the drawing itself may be colored. You change
the background color using the Background Color command
under the View menu. One of the selections is transparent.
Drawings with this colored background differ from those with
white backgrounds only in the way their images are exported.
Drawings with transparent backgrounds export transparent images
that acquire the background color of the document that displays
them. Drawings with white backgrounds export images that have
opaque white backgrounds, no matter where they are displayed.
The background color is one of the settings specified in the Color

and Shadow style.
Colors and Shadows

The Colors and Shadows command, under the Edit menu, allows
you to apply a design Style to your drawing. A style is a color
scheme, specifying the color of the drawing background, shapes,
borders, lines, text and shadows, and a shadow type. Using the
command presents the Colors and Shadow Dialog.

The Colors and Shadows Dialog
SmartDraw provides many ready-made styles. These are listed in
the Select a style list box. A preview of the style's appearance is
shown in the Sample window to the right of it. Changing the style
selection changes the preview. You can browse through the
available styles using the up and down arrow keys to change the
selection.
Once you have selected the style you want, pressing the OK button
applies the colors and shadow styles to your drawing. This is a
very quick and easy way to change all the colors in a drawing to a
consistent style in one operation. You can undo any change you
make, or you can apply another style to try any number of different
"looks".
If you select a shadowed style, shadows are applied to your shapes.
Some styles also apply the same kind of shadow to lines and to
text. The 3D styles give the raised and sunken looks common in
Windows dialogs.
You can control whether a shadowed style applies the shadows to
lines and text by checking the boxes in the shadow section of the
dialog:
Apply To Lines
Checking this box applies the selected shadow style to lines as well
as shapes. This is only visible if a shadow style is selected, and is
forced to be on for the raised and sunken shadow styles.

Apply to Text
Checking this box applies the shadow style to text as well as
shapes. This is only visible if a shadow style is selected. Text does
not look good shadowed unless it has a point size of 18 or greater.
Reverse Text Shadow

This option is only available if the raised or sunken 3D shadow
styles are chosen. Checking this box applies the reverse text
shadow: raised if the shape shadow is sunken, sunken if the shape
shadow is raised. This can give an interesting effect.
Controlling Color Changes

You can also control whether color changes are applied by
checking the boxes in the Colors section of the dialog. If the Lines
box is checked, changes are applied to both borders and lines. This
is forced to be on for 3D shadowed styles. If the Fills box is
checked, then color changes are applied to both text and fill colors.
Overriding Shadows
SmartDraw allows you to override the shadow styles for individual
shapes, lines and text blocks.
Shape and Line Shadow

You can use the Hide Shadow command, under the Arrange
menu, to turn off any shadows for shapes or lines that are currently
selected. If any of the shapes or lines selected already have hidden
shadows, the menu item changes to Show Shadow, and selecting it
turns the shadows back on for these objects.
Show Shadow has no effect on selected lines if the current style
does not normally apply shadows to lines.
Usually it is not a good idea to remove shadows when using the
three dimensional sunken or raised styles, since borders and lines
are the same color as the background and will look as if they have
disappeared if their shadows are removed.
Text Shadow
The Shadow command, under the Text menu, has an effect on text
shadows similar to the effect Hide and Show Shadow have on the
shadows of lines and shapes. Selecting this command toggles text
shadows on and off for selected objects. Its status is shown by a
check mark. This command has no effect if the current style does
not specify text shadows. Again, it is not a good idea to remove the
shadows of sunken or raised text.

Defining Your Own Styles
Pressing the Define button in the Colors and Shadows dialog
allows you to add your own styles, or to modify the standard ones,
by presenting the Define Colors and Shadow Styles Dialog.
The Define Colors and Shadow Styles Dialog
Selecting a Style to Edit

Selecting an item in the scrolling list selects the style to be edited.
The style's name is copied into the Name field, and the Change
button becomes active. Changing the style selected in the list
cancels any changes made to the previously selected style.
The Sample window shows a preview of the current style as the
selection in the list is changed, and as the settings for the selected
style are changed.
Changing Style Settings
The style settings are controlled by the color and shadow controls.
Seven color panels are displayed showing the current color
scheme. Pressing on any color panel with the mouse displays the
color menu. The menu changes the color selection.
The selection on the color menu shown with a dotted border
represents the Transparent color.

The Border color sets the color of shape borders. Line color sets
the color of lines, segmented lines and curved lines. Fill Color sets
the color of the inside of shapes. This can be transparent. Text
color sets the color of text. Shadow color sets the color of any
shadows. Highlight color is only used by the raised and sunken
three-dimensional shadow styles.
Background color sets the color of the drawing background. This,
too, can be transparent.
There are six shadow styles to choose from. These are shown in
the array of shadow buttons, with the top left button representing
no shadow. If a shadow style in the right column is selected the
angle of the shadow can also be controlled using the controls
labeled Angle.
The four angle buttons show the current angle for the shadow.
Pressing one changes the selection to the angle shown on its face.
These controls are only visible if one of the shadow styles in the
right column of the shadow control is selected.
Shadows can be applied optionally to lines and text. Check boxes
control these selections.
Adding a Style
You can add a new style by pressing the Add button. This button
becomes active when you change the Name field so that it no
longer matches the style selected in the list, and the settings for
colors and shadow have been changed. Pressing it adds the current
color and shadow settings as a new style with the name you
choose.
Changing a Style
You can change the currently selected style by pressing the
Change button. This button is active when the name in the Name
field matches the style selected in the list and the settings for
colors and shadow have been changed. Pressing it changes the
selected style to the current color and shadow settings.
Renaming a Style
The Rename button becomes active when the name of the selected
style has been changed, but the parameters have not. Pressing it
renames the current style.
Deleting a Style
The Delete button is active when the name in the Name field
matches the style selected in the list. Pressing it removes the
selected style from the list.

Overriding Styles
All new shapes and lines added to your drawing adopt the color
scheme and shadow style of the current style.
You can change the colors of any object, after it has been created,
using commands on the Shapes and Lines menus. This changes the
color scheme of the current style, and any new objects added adopt
the new scheme. Existing objects that are not selected when a color
is changed are unaffected.
You cannot change the shadow style of individual objects. Every
object follows the shadow scheme of the current style. To change
the appearance of shadows, you must select another style, or
modify the current style's shadow scheme.

Adding Text
There are two ways to add text to your drawing: inside a shape or
as a background text object.
Entering Text in Shapes

You can enter text inside the 24 standard SmartDraw shapes
displayed on the toolbar, and inside most library symbols.
A shape can be opened for text entry by simply selecting it and
starting to type. Shapes can also be opened for text entry by double
clicking on them or by pressing the text button on the toolbar and
clicking once on the shape.
When a shape (or background text object) is opened for text entry,
the standard Windows insertion point appears. This is a flashing
vertical line. All of the normal Windows text editing conventions
apply: Dragging with the mouse selects text (shown as inverted).
Selected text can be cut, deleted or copied. The font, size, style and
color of selected text can be changed using commands on the Text
menu.
Automatic Text Resizing

As you add text to a shape it word-wraps like a word processor
until the shape is full. Then, as you enter more text, the size of the
text shrinks automatically to allow more to fit inside the shape.
Finally, when the text has shrunk to a minimum size, the shape
grows to accommodate more text. This is shown below.
The text shrinks, and then the box grows, as you add more text.
The way a shape grows to accommodate more text is determined

by both the alignment of the text in the shape, and the sizing rules
chosen using the Text Entry Properties Dialog.
SmartDraw User's Guide Adding Text • 89

Text Entry Properties
The Text Entry Properties Dialog is displayed using the
command of the same name under the Shapes menu. Changes
made with this dialog apply to any selected shape (including a
shape that contains a table).
Text Entry Properties Dialog

This dialog allows to you to set:
• The way shapes grow as you add text
• The gap between the edge of the shape and the text it contains
• How to begin text entry by clicking with the mouse.
Text Sizing Rules

There are three different ways shapes can grow as you add text.
Horizontally and Vertically
This is the default for most shapes. The shape grows so as to
maintain its proportions.
Horizontal and Vertical Text Sizing
90 • Adding Text SmartDraw User's Guide

Horizontally
This is the default for background text objects and the text that
appears below or above image objects and symbols. New text is
added on the current line. New lines occur only when the Enter Key
is typed.
Horizontal Text Sizing
Vertically
Text "wraps" within the width of the shape, like a word processor
does when the text reaches edge of the page. The shape grows
vertically as new lines are added.
Vertical Text Sizing
Effect of Text Alignment

As a shape grows according to these rules, it maintains a fixed
point according to its text alignment. If text inside a shape is
centered, the center of the shape remains fixed and the shape grows
outward from the center. A shape with left-aligned text remains
fixed at its left edge and grows on the right. Shapes with top-
justified text grow downward, and so on.
Allowing Text to Shrink

You can force the text inside a shape to attempt to shrink before it
causes the shape to grow by checking the Allow Text to Shrink
checkbox. You can also specify the minimum size that the text will
shrink to before it forces the shape to grow.
Text Margins
The gap between the edge of the text inside a shape and the inside
of the shape border is set using the Text Margins control. This
setting is in 1/100 of an inch and defaults to 2. Reducing this value
will allow more text to fit inside a shape.

Text Entry and Mouse Clicks
The three Allow Text Editing with a… choices allow you to set
whether a single-click or a double-click on a shape opens it for text
editing, or whether it can be opened for text editing at all!
Normal shapes require a double-click for text editing. (A single
click is used to move and select them.) Shapes that contain tables,
on the other hand (see page 100), normally require only a single
click to begin editing.
Sometimes it is useful to require a single click for editing normal
shapes. A good example of this is using SmartDraw to fill-in a
form. Equally, if you have created a multiple-text-entry-area flow-
charting symbol, you will probably want it to require a double-
click for text editing like normal shapes.
The Do not allow text editing choice is also useful for forms. It
prevents the labels and prompts in the form from being changed
while filling-in the form.
Text Entry and the Enter Key

Normally, typing the Enter Key inserts a new line into the text you
are editing. Selecting the Tab to the next shape… option causes
an Enter Key to behave like the Tab Key and move you to the next
shape or cell within a table (see page 161). Shift- Enter moves
back, just like Shift-Tab. This behavior is very useful when using
SmartDraw to design and fill-out forms.
When the Enter Key is set to behave like the Tab Key, holding the
Ctrl Key down while you type the Enter Key adds a new line in the
normal way.
Defaults
All of the settings in the Text Entry Properties dialog become the
defaults for newly created objects once applied to a selected object,
with the important exception of the mouse-clicks setting.
Entering Background Text

If the text button on the toolbar is pressed, then clicking in the
background of the drawing starts a text entry session. Any text
entered forms a new object called a Background Text Object.
This is a rectangle shape that initially has no border, and has a
transparent fill.
You can select background text objects and open them for further
text entry like any other shape. You may assign them a border and

colors and rotate them, like any other shape. However, they do
have some properties that differ from a normal shape.
Text objects align to the Snaps according the baseline of the first
line of text, not their center or top-left corner like other shapes.
Also, they are removed from the drawing if all their text contents
are deleted, so that your drawing does not become cluttered with
invisible empty shapes.
Attaching Text to Lines

In addition to adding text to shapes, you can also label lines with
text. To do this, simply select a line and begin typing. A
background text object will be created and attached to the line,
normally in the center.
This text object will remain attached to line when you move it. It
can change its orientation to match that of the line, or it can remain
horizontal. You control this using the Align Shapes and Text on
the Line command settings, found on the Lines Menu. There are
two choices: Along the Direction of the Line, and Horizontally.
Text attached to a line

The text is positioned on the line according to the current text
alignment setting for the line (not the text object attached to it).
You can change this by selecting the line and using the Alignment
command on the Text menu.
When the text is added on top of the line, the text is automatically
given an opaque background that hides the line underneath. When
text is added below or above the line, the text is given a transparent
background so that the line shows through.
You can show the line through the text (or vice versa) by selecting
the text object itself and changing its fill color to transparent, using
the Shape menu.
The text entry position for an imported image or a library symbol
can be set so that text goes above or below it and not inside. These
shapes behave similarly to lines with respect to entering text.
Selecting the shape and starting to type creates a background text
object that remains linked to the shape.

Dimensioning: Showing Line Length
You can set lines to show their length in the same units as
currently displayed on the rulers (see page 153) using the Show
Length command under the Lines menu. This causes any lines that
are selected to display their current length as an attached text
object, or Length Label.
Show Length Command
The length label changes its value as the length of the line is
adjusted. Changing the ruler scale, or its units, using the Define
Rulers and Grid dialog also changes the value of the line length
label.
A length label is removed from a line by clicking on the label itself
and deleting it.
If you want to use your own units or descriptions, you can attach
your own text to any length label simply by typing it in. Text that
is not part of the length value is preserved as the line changes
length:
User-defined Text in a Length Label

Length labels are used to create automatic dimension lines. There
are arrowhead styles that can be placed at each end of line to
complete the appearance. Segmented and curved lines can also
show their length. For segmented lines, the length is the distance
between the ends in the direction of the text label:
Length Labels

Changing Fonts, Size and Style
You can change the font, size and style of text using the Font
command under the Text menu. This presents the standard Font
Dialog.
The Font Dialog

There are three controls in this dialog, along with a Sample
window that shows the selected typeface.
Font
This shows a list of all True Type fonts in the system. If none is
highlighted, the range of text or shapes selected has more than one
font. Leaving this list un-selected will result in no change to the
font.
Size
This shows a list of sizes for the selected font. If the size you want
is not listed you may enter it in the size field. If no size is
highlighted, the range of text or shapes selected has more than one
size. Leaving this list un-highlighted will result in no change to the
size.
Style
This shows a list of styles (or weights) for the selected font. If no
style is highlighted, the range of text or shapes selected has more
than one style. Leaving this list un-highlighted will result in no
change to the style.

Applying the Change
Selecting a new font from the Font Dialog changes the typeface
for any of the characters that are currently selected in your
drawing. Selected text is shown in reverse color as in other
Windows programs. If no characters are selected, the next
character you type will be in the new typeface.
When one or more shapes that contains text, rather than the text
itself, are selected, applying a change using the Font Dialog
changes all the text inside the selected shapes. You can change the
typeface of all the text in a drawing by using the Select All
command (page 57), followed by the Font command.
The typeface applied using the Font Dialog becomes the new
starting typeface for text entered into empty shapes, or as
background text.
Changing Text Using the Toolbar

You can also change the size and style of a shape that contains
text, or text that is being edited, using toolbar buttons.
Pressing the buttons for bold, italic, etc. toggles the text style. For
example, pressing the Bold button when it is not depressed turns
bold on. Pressing it again, when it is already depressed, turns bold
off. If the B on the button is gray, then the objects or text currently
selected is a mixture of bold and plain.
The following keyboard short cuts can also be used to change

styles:
Bold Ctrl+B
Italic Ctrl+I
Underline Ctrl+U
Superscript Ctrl+ +
Subscript Ctrl+ -
Superscript and Subscript behave in a similar way to the other

styles (bold, italic and underline), except that they can only be
applied to selected text and not to selected objects.
The size of text can be increased or decreased using the text-sizing

buttons. The "+" button increases the text size, and the "-"
decreases it.

Positioning Text Inside Shapes
Text entered inside a shape does not always fill it completely. You
can control the position of the text inside the shape using the
Alignment command under the Text menu.
Text can be aligned in shapes in all possible combinations of four
horizontal positions (left, right, center or flushed) and three vertical
positions (top, bottom or center). The resulting twelve alignment
styles are shown graphically on the Alignment menu under the
Text menu.
The Text Alignment Menu
The Alignment command can be used when a shape that contains

text is selected, or when a shape is open for text entry. Alignment
affects both the way text is displayed within the shape, and the way
the shape grows when text is added. (See Text Entry Properties).
When text is open for editing, different alignments may be applied
to individual paragraphs within the same shape.
Flush alignment is similar to left alignment except that wrapped
lines have smooth right edge as well as left edge. Left-aligned text
has a ragged right edge. This paragraph is flush justified. All of the
others are left justified.
Changing the alignment of background text often has little
noticeable effect because the text fits inside its shape exactly.
Changing whether it aligns right or left has no visible effect if the
text is already touching both sides of its shape. The direction that
the background text object will grow as text is added is affected
however.
Positioning Text Along Lines

The text alignment command also changes the position of text
associated with a line:
Text Alignment and Lines

Deleting Text
If you delete text from a shape, or make the text a size smaller, so
it occupies less space, the shape may or may not shrink.
The “real” size for any shape is the size set using the normal sizing
commands, such as clicking and dragging on a selection handle. If
the shape is forced to grow because more text is entered inside than
will fit, it remembers its original size. When text is removed from
the shape, it shrinks back to its original size if it can. If the shape is
already at its "real" size, then removing text has no effect.
Inserting Symbols
The Insert Symbol command, under the Text menu, allows you to
quickly insert a character in a particular font. It presents the Insert
Symbol Dialog and is active only when a text entry session is
open. Selecting one of the symbols from the dialog inserts it into
the stream of text.
The Insert Symbol Dialog

You select a symbol by clicking on it. Pressing OK, or a double-
click, inserts the symbol and closes the dialog.
If the font drop-down list shows “Normal Text”, the typeface of
the inserted character is the same as the current font. If a specific
font is selected, the inserted symbol has this font.
You can add new fonts, or remove them from the list, using the
Add Font and Remove Font buttons.
Special Characters
SmartDraw supports text entry of the following special characters:
• Tab. You can enter a tab character by typing Ctrl-Alt-Tab.
(Normally tabs move you from one object to another)

• Hard Space. Typing Ctrl-Space enters a hard space. This
joins two words so that they are not separated by word
wrapping. Hard spaces are also not hidden at the end of
lines when they wrap, like normal spaces are.
• Soft Hyphen. Typing Ctrl-hyphen enters a soft hyphen.
This is invisible but allows a word to be split by word
wrapping, in which case it shows as a hyphen at the end of
a line.
Bulleted Text
You can use the Bullets command, under the Text menu, to
automatically format text with one of four bullet styles, with
proper indentation. Bullets can be applied to the entire shape, or
individual paragraphs within a shape.
Bulleted Text
Changing Text Color

You can change the color of text using the text color menu (under
the Text menu).
You can change the color of individual characters. The color
selected from the menu is applied only to the range of text
currently selected.
Changes can also be applied to selected shapes that contain text. In
this case, the new color is applied to all the text inside the selected
shapes.
Changing Text Shadows

Whether the text in a drawing shows a shadow is determined by
the properties of the current Color and Shadow style, and whether
this has been overridden for a particular shape, using the Shadow
command under the text menu. These issues are described on page
85.

Using Tables
What are Tables?

Tables are particularly useful for creating timelines, organizational
charts, Gantt charts, software diagrams, and business forms. We’ll
discuss each of these at the end of this chapter, but first let’s look
at the basics of tables.
Normally, text entered into a SmartDraw shape occupies a single
text entry area that fills the shape. However, SmartDraw also
supports Tables, or multiple text entry areas within the same shape.
Normal Shape Table
Entry Area 1 Entry Area 2 Entry Area 3
One entry area
Entry Area 4 etc......
Each text entry area (or cell) acts like a separate shape as far as text
entry is concerned. Each cell has its own text alignment and
background color and the text inside shrinks or grows
independently of other cells.
Adding Tables to a Drawing

You can add a new table to your drawing simply by clicking on the
table button. This is a shortcut to the Add New Table command
under the Table menu.
This command presents the Table Dialog, which shows a list of
pre-defined table formats. Pressing the OK button adds a new table
with the selected format to your drawing.
In addition to the format, you can choose the number of rows and
columns you want your table to have by changing the values
shown in the dialog.
100 • Using Tables SmartDraw User's Guide

The Table Dialog
As a shortcut you can also drag and drop a table into your drawing
from the toolbar table button. This creates a table using the most
recently selected format from the Table Dialog.
Tables created by the table button or the Add New Table
command are always rectangular.
Changing a Normal Shape into a

Table
Existing shapes can be converted into tables by the Convert to
Table command under the Table menu. As with a new table, you
select the format from the Table Dialog. This inserts the desired
table into the shapes currently selected. Any text inside the shapes
is placed in the first cell of the table.
Non-rectangular shapes may also contain tables:
Different shapes containing the same 2x4 table.
Changing a Table into a Normal

Shape
You can also change a table into a normal shape with a single text
entry area using the Convert to Text command under the Table
SmartDraw User's Guide Using Tables • 101

menu. Any text contained in the table cells is joined together as
one text block inside the converted shape.
Rows, Columns and Cells

Tables are composed of one or more rows of cells. Usually the
cells in each row are lined up underneath each other to form
columns, but this need not be the case.
Each cell is an independent rectangular area that may have its own
block of text, background color and other attributes. The
boundaries of the cells are like the borders of shapes. They may
have their own thickness, color and pattern. Cell borders may also
be hidden. Some examples of table formats are shown below.
Note that columns may differ in width and rows may differ in
height. Column arrangements may differ among rows. Cells may
also span more than one row.
YES
Different Table Formats
Formatting Tables
You can change the appearance and cell arrangements of an
existing table, by choosing Format Table from the Table menu.
This shows the Table Dialog (see illustration on page 101).
SmartDraw maintains a list of table formats. These are shown in
the scrolling list on the left of the dialog. A preview of the format
currently selected in the list appears on the right.
The number of rows and columns in any particular format can be
adjusted using the text fields in the Parameters section of the
dialog.
A checkbox lets you can choose whether to include the text labels
associated with the selected format, or not.

A second checkbox gives you the choice of whether to try to resize
the table to fit inside your existing shape, or to grow your shape to
fit the normal dimensions of the table. Note that it is not always
possible to fit the new table format inside your shape, particularly
if you add rows, since rows have a minimum height given by the
height of the cell’s text setting.
Adding Table Formats of Your Own

When you use the Format Table command on an existing table,
its format is added to the list and shown in the dialog as [Current
Settings]. You can add the current setting to the permanent list of
formats by pressing the Add to List button. This presents the
following dialog:
Adding the current table to the list of table formats

Enter a name for the format and press OK to add it to the list.
You can remove formats you added by selecting a format in the list
and pressing the Remove button. Permanent built-in formats cannot
be removed.
Formats you have added are stored in your personal preference file
and are not available to other users sharing the same copy of the
program on a network.
Adding Text to Tables

By default, tables are opened for text editing with just one click of
the mouse in a cell. You can change this using the Text Entry
Properties command under the Shapes menu as described on page
92. If you created your table by converting an existing shape, then,
by default, a double-click is required for text entry. This too can be
changed to a single click using the same command.
Text entry in a cell behaves exactly the same way as text entry in a
shape.
Preventing Changes to Text

Sometimes you may want to prevent text in a cell from being
changed (or to prevent text being entered into a cell at all),

particularly in forms where you may want to freeze the field labels
while allow editing in the field themselves.
You can allow or prevent text editing on a cell-by-cell basis using
the Do Not Allow Text Editing command under the Table menu.
This shows a check mark if one of the cells selected has the No
Editing parameter set to true. Using the command toggles the
ability to edit text on and off for the selected cells.
Text Resizing and Tables

If you enter enough text, the cell will be forced to grow. To
maintain the row and column arrangements of the table, the cell’s
entire row or column will also grow.
All the cells in a table follow the text resizing rules of the shape
that contains the table. (See Text Entry Properties on page 90.)
By default, shapes containing tables are set to grow vertically as
text is added. This means that text wraps within a cell, and rows
get taller as text is added.
Shapes containing tables can also be set to grow horizontally or

proportionately as text is added. Horizontal growth requires that
columns (and tables) get wider as text is entered.
More text than

will fit
Change Vertically
More text than will fit
Change Horizontally
Text Sizing in Tables
Moving Around the Table

When you are entering text into a cell, typing the Tab key moves
the text insertion point to the next cell to the right. If the cell is at
the end of a row, the insertion points wraps around to the first cell
on the row below. Shift-Tab does the reverse.
The Up and Down arrow keys also move the insertion point up and
down rows within a column.
The Right and Left arrow keys move the insertion point left and
right within the text of the current cell, but to the left and right cell
respectively if the cell contains no text.

Note that cells with the No Editing attribute are skipped when
moving the insertion point.
Selecting Cells
Clicking and dragging the mouse within a table selects a range of
cells, highlighting their centers with black, just as in Excel® and
other spreadsheets. Rows and columns can also be selected by
clicking at the leftmost or topmost edge of the table. When a click
would select a row or column, the cursor is displayed as a wide
arrow (shown at left).
Selecting the shape that contains the table implicitly selects all the
cells and dividers in the table. The shape itself is selected by
clicking on the border of the table. The cursor appears as the
normal selection tool (shown at left) when a click would result in
the selection of the entire shape, rather than the cells it contains.
Clicking anywhere in the table in Multiple Select mode always
selects the shape containing the table, rather than individual cells.
Holding the Ctrl key down while clicking on a cell allows you to
select a discontinuous group of cells, one cell at a time. Ctrl-
clicking on a selected cell de-selects it.
Holding the Shift key down while clicking on a cell extends the
selection rectangle from the Anchor cell to the clicked cell. The
anchor cell is the cell in the table that was initially selected.
Once a cell is selected, the selection can be moved using the arrow
keys. Holding the Shift key down while typing an arrow key
extends the selection in that direction, just like shift-clicking does.
Tabbing also moves the cell selection.
Applying Changes to Selected Cells

Once selected (either for text editing, or with a black center by
“highlighting”), cells may have their attributes changed with many
of the menu commands.
The Cell Background Color and Cell Background Shading
submenus under the Table menu can be used to change these
properties for selected cells. The equivalent commands under the
Shapes menu also work in the same way.
The Grid Line Style and Grid Line Color submenus, under the
Table menu, can be used to change the borders of the selected
cells. (Note that the equivalent commands under the Shapes menu
change these attributes for the border of the shape, which contains
the table.).

Most of the Text menu commands may also be applied to cell
contents: Font, Text Color, Alignment, Bullets etc.
Selecting Cell Dividers

You can also select the lines or dividers between cells with the
mouse. When a mouse click would result in the selection of a
divider, the cursor becomes two parallel lines, as shown in the
margin to the left.
Selected dividers are shown as green dotted lines. Once a divider
has been selected, the selection range may be extended by shift
clicking on lines parallel to it. Ctrl-clicking adds just the line
clicked-on to the selection range.
You can change the attributes of the selected dividers with the
menu commands in the Grid Line Style and Grid Line Color
submenus. The equivalent commands under the Lines menu also
make the same changes.
Partially Selecting Row and Column Dividers

Normally, when a cell divider is clicked with the mouse, the whole
divider for the row or column is selected. If the Alt key is held
down while clicking, however, only the segment of the row or
column divider for the local cell is selected. Alt clicking on other
divider segments adds them to the selection. Holding down both
the Alt and Ctrl keys toggles the Selection State of a divider
segment.
This feature allows the application of attributes to parts of a row or
column divider, and more importantly, allows parts of them to be
moved!
Moving Cell Dividers

Clicking on a row or column divider not only selects it, but also
allows you to move it. You can increase or decrease the width of
columns and the heights of rows by dragging the dividers with the
mouse.
When whole column dividers are moved, only the width of the
column to the left of the divider is affected. The columns to the
right remain the same size. Hence the table grows wider or
narrower to accommodate the change in width of the divider’s
column. The same principal also applies to row dividers.
Using the Alt key to select a segment of a column divider allows
the small selected segment to be moved, changing the width of the
immediately adjoining cells. This is one way to create tables with

cell arrangements that are more complicated than regular rows and
columns.
More text than
will fit
Alt-Drag just the top row column divider
More text than will fit
Moving Partial Column Dividers

When column dividers are moved while holding down the Alt key,
the column to the right of the divider becomes narrower as the one
to the left becomes wider (and vice versa). The width of the table
remains unaffected, unless forced to grow to maintain a minimum
width for a column.
Changing the Width and Height of

Cells.
There are several ways to adjust the height and width of cells, and
hence rows and columns, within a table.
Dragging Cell Dividers

We have already described how row and column dividers can be
dragged to change the width of columns and the height of rows,
using the mouse.
The invisible Snap-to grid affects the position of cell dividers.
When the Snaps are active, row heights snap to whole line heights,
as determined by the height of the first line in the table. Column
dividers fall only on the lines of the grid. This makes it easy to re-
align column dividers that have been separated by dividing cells or
by dragging partial dividers.
The far right and bottom edges of the table behave like dividers
and can be dragged with the mouse. The divider cursor appears just
inside these edges. Dragging on this “phantom” divider changes
the width of the last column, or height of the bottom row.
Spacing Rows and Columns Evenly

These commands, under the Table menu, make all the rows or
columns in the table the same height or width, while changing the
size of the table as little as possible.

Resizing the Table Object
Resizing the object that contains the table scales the table as a
whole to fit the new dimensions of the object.
The combined table and object cannot be reduced in height to less
than the minimum height of all the rows. You can quickly
minimize a table’s height by shrinking the object vertically as far
as it will go.
Holding the Shift key down while resizing the object with a corner
selection-handle will scale the object, and the table,
proportionately.
Joining and Splitting Cells.

The Join Cells and Split Cells commands, under the Table menu,
allow you to create complex table structures.
The Join Cells command joins selected cells into one cell,
combining any text in the cells into a single block of text. When
cells from multiple rows are selected, cells adjacent to each other
in the same row are joined first. Cells adjacent to each other in the
same column are joined only if they have no selected neighbors in
the same row.
Joining cells in the same row simply removes the cell divider(s)
between them.
Joining Cells Horizontally

Joining cells in the same column creates a single cell that spans the
rows containing the selected cells. Cells that span more than one
row always span a whole number of rows. It is not possible to
create a cell that lies partially in a row.

Joining Cells Vertically
The Split Cells command does the reverse of Join Cells. If a cell
spans more than one row, splitting creates a cell for each row
spanned. Any text in the split cell is placed in the top, or left, cell.
If no selected cell spans more than one row, all selected cells are
split into two cells within the same row and occupying the same
space as the original cell: A vertical cell divider is added to the
center of the cell.
Inserting Rows, Columns and Cells

You can insert columns and cells anywhere in the table using the
Insert command under the Table menu.
When whole rows are selected, the Insert command shows Insert
Row. It adds the same number of rows as are selected, inserting
them above the uppermost selected row.
Insert Row
When whole columns are selected, The Insert command becomes
Insert Column. It inserts the same number of columns as are
selected, inserting them to the left of the leftmost selected column.

Insert Columns
When a rectangular block of cells is selected that is not a whole
row or a column, the Insert command says Insert Cells and
presents a dialog with four options for inserting:
Insert Cells Dialog

In addition to inserting whole row and columns, cells may be
inserted in just the selected rows or columns. This provides an easy
way to shuffle a whole column down (or a row right), to insert a
missing value, for example.
Inserting cells within a column

The same table inserting within a row
Appending Rows and Columns

The Format Table command (Table menu) provides an easy way
to append rows and columns to a table. This command presents the
Table Dialog. The format of the currently selected table appears as
[Current Settings]. You can append rows or columns by increasing
the values for the number of rows or columns shown in the dialog
and pressing OK.
You can also completely change the arrangement of cells in the
table by selecting one of the other formats from the scrolling list
shown in the dialog.
Deleting Rows, Columns and Cells

You can remove selected cells from the table with the Delete Cells
command. This works in essentially the reverse way of the Insert
Cells command described above. When whole rows and columns
are selected, the Delete command shows Delete Rows and Delete
Columns, respectively.
When you delete partial rows and columns with the Delete Cells
command, values are moved up or left, but the total number of
rows and columns remains fixed. To remove spare rows or
columns, if desired, simply make a second Delete operation.
You can use the Format Table command to remove rows and
columns from the bottom and right edge of the table. Just reduce
the number of rows and columns shown in the Table dialog and
press OK.
Deleting, Copying and Pasting Text

With a single keystroke you can delete the text contents of a cell,
without removing the cell itself. Typing the Backspace or Delete
key erases the text in all selected cells.
The content of selected cells can be copied to the clipboard using
the Copy or Cut commands under the Edit menu. Pasting the
content back into a SmartDraw table preserves its row and column

arrangement along with fonts, alignment and other text attributes.
You can even paste the table data from SmartDraw into another
application, such as an Excel spreadsheet or Word table, and it will
retain its tabular format.
The reverse also works. Pasting tabular data from another
program into a SmartDraw table preserves the row and column
arrangements of the data, placing each field in its appropriate cell.
This allows data from spreadsheets and other applications that
generate tabular data to be formatted as a table in SmartDraw.
Changing the Appearance of a Table

Object
As we discussed above, the color, pattern, borders and text
properties of cells may be changed by first selecting the cells and
then using the appropriate menu commands under the Table and
Text menus. Selecting the entire object containing a table
implicitly selects all the cells and dividers in the table, and any
changes to the attributes then apply to the entire table.
AutoFill
The row and column headers in a table are frequently a series of
numbers, months or days. SmartDraw can create these series for
you, with the AutoFill command under the Table menu. This
presents the AutoFill dialog.
The AutoFill Dialog

SmartDraw will automatically type the selected series across a
range of rows or columns, beginning with the currently selected
cell.

There are five choices for the type of series: Numbers, days-of-the-
week, months, years, and a constant value.
For days-of-the-week and months, the sequence can begin at any
value, and it repeats until the Number of Values is reached. A
checkbox lets you choose between full and abbreviated names for
the days or months. A preview appears showing the current
selections.
For years and other series of numbers, a prefix and a suffix can be
specified to create a string. For example, the parameters:
Result in the strings Q1, 1998, Q2, 1998, Q3,1998 and so on.
The radio buttons at the bottom of the dialog indicate whether to
insert the series across the row containing the currently selected
cell or down its column.
Using Tables
The ability to divide shapes into multiple text areas opens up a
whole new world of flexibility in diagramming:
Timelines
Timelines are diagrams that consist of one large table.
Timeline
SmartDraw’s table features make it very easy to maintain and
manipulate complex tables.
Software Diagramming
Many of the symbols used in software diagramming require
independent text entry areas:

Multi-Text Entry Symbol
Organizational Charts
Multiple text entry areas in a single shape allow you to store
complex information in organizational charts or family trees.
Organizational chart with multiple fields per position

In the example above, each position has four cells: Name, title,
extension and room. The last two share the same row. The cell
dividers are white.
Forms
SmartDraw’s sophisticated table functions make it an excellent
form designer:
Designing Forms with SmartDraw

View the templates in the Forms drawing-type for more examples.

Arranging Objects
Arranging Objects
SmartDraw includes several features that make it easy to align
shapes and lines, and to control their front-to-back order. These
commands are grouped under the Arrange menu.
Using Snaps
The Snaps are a grid of imaginary lines that extend from the minor
ticks on the rulers. When snaps are turned on, the centers (or
sometimes the edges) of shapes and lines automatically align
themselves with the tick marks on the rulers as they are created,
moved, or resized with the mouse. This makes aligning the centers
of very easy: You simply drag them with the mouse. The grid used
by the snaps is the same one that is displayed by the Show Grid
command under the View menu.
You can choose whether the Top-Left or Center of your objects
will snap to the grid. You set this property for the entire drawing in
the Define Rulers and Grid dialog. (Page 153).
The default setting of Center is best when lines are used to link
shapes together, as in flowcharting. The Top-Left setting is best
when the edges of shapes must line up, as in form design or when
drawing floor plans.
When you move or resize objects using other methods, such as
with the arrow keys, they do not align with the snaps. This makes
it easy to make fine adjustments in position without turning the
snaps off.
The Use Snaps command, under the Arrange menu, toggles the
snap mechanism on and off. When Snaps are on, the menu item
shows a check mark.
Aligning Objects
The edges of several objects can be aligned with each other using
the Align command under the Arrange menu.
SmartDraw User's Guide Arranging Objects • 115

The Align command aligns the edges of selected objects with the
target selected object. The target selected object is the one that
shows solid handles, rather than hollow handles. It is the most
recently selected.
The Align Left and Right commands align the left or right edges
of the selected objects with the left or right edge of the target
object, respectively.
Align Left Command

Aligning the Top and Bottom works similarly.
The Center Vertically command aligns the midpoints between the
left and right edges of the objects. Center Horizontally works
similarly, aligning the midpoints between the objects’ top and
bottom.
Making Objects the Same Size

You can make several shapes the same size in height, width or
both using the Make Same Size command under the Arrange
menu.
Like the Align command described above, Make Same Size uses
the target selected object as the template for changes to all the
other selected objects. The Make Same Size Width command
makes all non-target selected objects the same width as the target.
Height and Both work similarly.
Make Same Size Command

Objects that can only shrink or grow proportionally maintain their
proportions under this command.
116 • Arranging Objects SmartDraw User's Guide

Spacing Objects Evenly
Using the Space Evenly commands, you can arrange three or more
shapes so that there is the same amount of space between them.
This is useful for creating an equally spaced array of lines or
shapes. The Space Evenly menu item has three choices on its sub-
menu: Horizontally equalizes the space between objects in the
horizontal direction only. Vertically does the same in the vertical
direction, and Both does the same in both directions at the same
time.
Centering the Drawing on the Page

The Center Drawing on Page command under the Arrange menu
can be used to move all the objects in the drawing so that they are
centered in the minimum number of pages needed to print them.
The drawing is also moved to the top-left of the 50x50 inch
drawing area. This command applies to all objects, not just
selected objects.
If your drawing does not fit on one page, you can still print it on a
single page by checking the Print on One Page check box in the
Print dialog.
Changing the Front-to-Back Order

Objects may lie on top of other objects. You can change the front-
to-back order of the objects in your drawing using the Bring to
Front or Send To Back commands under the Arrange menu.
Bring to Front
Bring to Front moves any selected objects in front of the non-
selected objects. Send to Back does the reverse. These commands
have no noticeable effect unless objects overlap one another.
Send to Back
SmartDraw User's Guide Arranging Objects • 117

Locking Objects
You may lock or unlock selected objects using the Lock Object
command. Locked objects show selection with gray handles
instead of black and cannot be moved until they are unlocked. This
is useful if you want to place an object behind others and don't
want to accidentally move it while clicking on the objects in front
of it. Locked objects cannot be opened for text editing. However,
their properties (color etc.) can be changed using the menu
commands.
118 • Arranging Objects SmartDraw User's Guide

Connecting Lines and Shapes
Linking Objects to Each Other

SmartDraw lets you link objects together so that they stay
connected when you move or re-size them. This is particularly
useful for flowcharts.
The most common case is a line linked to two shapes. Moving one
of the shapes changes the size and shape of the line as shown
below.
A Line Linked to Two Shapes
Linking a Line to a Shape

When line linking is enabled, you can link a line to a shape by
moving one end over the border of the shape, either by resizing or
moving the line with the mouse.
When the end of the line approaches the shape's border, a series of
round solid circles appear on the shape, indicating the points on the
border where the line may link. These are called connection
points. This is shown below for fixed connection points.
(Connection points can also be infinite, see page 120).
Connection Points
The end of the line then snaps to the closest connection point and
the mouse cursor becomes an "anchor". Releasing the mouse while
in this state establishes a link between the line and the shape.
You can even link one line between two shapes in a single drawing
operation. Just click on one of the line tools on the toolbar (but not
the automatic connector) and release. (Your cursor now looks like
a pencil). Touch the pencil to the border of one shape and click
down with the mouse. Drag the pencil to the edge of the second
SmartDraw User's Guide Connecting Lines and Shapes • 119

shape and release. The two shapes are now linked to the line, and
they will stay connected even if one or both of the shapes are
moved or resized.
Line Linking and Flowcharts

Linking lines to the edges of shapes is a key feature when creating
flowcharts. By linking lines in this way, you can move the shapes
and the lines remain attached.
Normally in flow diagrams of all types, you link a line to the center
of the side of a shape. If the centers of shapes joined by a line do
not align exactly with each other, the line will be kinked. Because
of this, the centers (rather than the top-lefts) of shapes are set to
snap to the grid when drawing flowcharts. This is one of the
parameters set when you choose a Flowchart type from the New
Drawing dialog.
If you choose a floor plan, or a drawing where exact placement of
edges is important, then shapes are set to snap their top-left corners
to the grid.
The way shapes snap to the grid in the current drawing is set in the
Rulers and Grid Dialog (page 153).
Breaking a Link
Links may be broken using the reverse of the link creation process.
First, click on the line, so that it shows round handled where it
connects to the shape. Then grab the handle and pull it away from
the shape to break the link. When only one end of a line is linked
to shape you can also break the link by moving the line away from
the shape. Deleting either object also breaks the link.
Infinite and Fixed Connection Points

Shapes can have either Fixed or Infinite connection points.
With fixed points, shapes have 16 fixed connection points, four at
the corners of the shape, four in the center of the sides, and one
between each these points. Fixed connection points make it easy to
connect a line exactly in the center of a side and are the best choice
for simple flow charts.
With infinite connection points, lines can connect to any point on
the perimeter of the shape. Infinite connection points allow you to
connect many lines to the same side of a shape. Certain library
symbols can only have fixed connection points, but you can adjust
the position of the fixed points using the Edit Symbol dialog (page
135).
120 • Connecting Lines and Shapes SmartDraw User's Guide

You can choose the kind of connection points a shape has using the
Connection Points command under the shape menu. This presents
a dialog, which explains each choice and allows you to change it.
Linked Targets and Linked Objects

In any linking relationship, the object that displays the connection
points is the Linked Target, and the object linked to it is called the
Linked Object. The target object usually controls the positioning
of the linked object. If the target is moved, the linked object either
moves, or re-sizes to maintain the link.
Lines are allowed to have one or two targets. With one target, lines
move when their target moves. With two, they change shape and/or
re-size when one of their targets moves.
When a line that is linked to one target is moved, the link is
broken. When a line that is linked to two objects is moved, all
three are moved as a group.
Turning Linking On and Off

You can turn linking on and off. This is very useful when you want
to draw a finely detailed picture, and you don't want lines and
shapes that you draw close to others to automatically link to them.
The Allow Lines to Link command toggles the ability of lines to
link to other objects. New drawings of the type that make use of
line linking, like flowcharts, usually have this turned on
automatically.
The Allow Shapes to Link command toggles the ability of shapes
to link to each other. In most drawing-types this is turned off.
Linking Shapes to Lines

When Allow Shapes to Link to Lines under the Arrange menu
shows a check mark, shapes can link to lines. This is the opposite
of the behavior of lines linking to shapes described above.
Shapes link to lines via one attachment point, usually in the center
of the shape. You link a shape to a line by dragging it over the line
so that its center (or attachment point) is close to the line. As the
shape’s attachment point comes into contact with the line, the
cursor changes to the anchor shape and the connect-point becomes
highlighted as a black dot.
Linking a Shape to a Line

Releasing the mouse leaves the shape linked to the line. If the line
is moved the shape follows.
Dragging the shape away from the line breaks the link. However
the shape can be dragged along the line and the link moved to a
new position, like sliding a bead on a string.
Linking shapes to lines is a very useful technique for drawing
circuit diagrams and other engineering diagrams: The circuit
components can be dropped directly onto a line, with multiple
components linked to the same line.
Circuit Diagram Using Shapes Linked to Lines
When the Line Shows Through the Shape

Sometimes when a shape links to a line, the line appears to show
through the shape. This is often because the line lies in front of the
shape in the front-to-back order. Selecting the shape and using the
Bring To Front command under the Arrange menu corrects this.
Line in Front of Shape
Bring to Front:
Shape in Front of Line
Align Shapes and Text on a Line

The Align Shapes and Text on a Line command under the Lines
menu controls the way shapes lie along the line they are linked to.
There are two settings: Along the Direction of the Line and
Horizontally. Select the line, (not the shape) and choose one of
these options from the Lines menu.
When the line is set to Align along the Direction of the Line, a
shape rotates to follow the direction of the line.
Align along the direction of the line
122 • Connecting Lines and Shapes SmartDraw User's Guide

When the alignment is set to Horizontally, a shape maintains its
own angle of rotation and can be rotated independently of the
direction of the line.
Horizontally
Shape Attachment Points

By default, shapes link to lines using their centers as the point of
attachment. The attachment point for library symbols can be
adjusted to any other point within the shape’s boundaries using the
Edit Symbol Dialog.
Linking Shapes to Each Other

When Allow Shapes to Link under the Arrange menu shows a
check mark, one shape can be linked to another. However, shapes
can never link to lines where a line is the target. Instead the line
must be linked to the shape.
When shapes link to each other, any of the connection points on
the linked shape can snap to any of the connection points on the
target shape. Shapes can only link to one target at a time.
This feature is useful if you want to attach a background text object
to a shape so that it follows the shape around when the shape is
moved or re-sized.
Linking Lines to Each Other

Lines can link to other lines. This is useful for creating branched
networks of lines that remain attached when their target objects
(whether shapes or lines) change size or move. When a line and a
shape connect point overlap, a second line will preferentially
connect to the shape and not the line.

Formatting with Automatic
Connectors
Using Automatic Connectors

One of the most powerful features of SmartDraw is the use of
Automatic Connectors to create regular arrangements of shapes.
Examples include organization charts, fishbone diagrams, network
diagrams and even flow charts.
Using Connectors
Automatic Connectors are special line objects that both shapes
and other lines may link to. A connector is programmed to
arrange the objects linked to it in a particular pattern. As shapes are
linked to a connector, the other shapes already linked to it adjust to
accommodate the new shape and maintain the arrangement. In the
example below, a new shape is added to a connector that maintains
a horizontal organization chart arrangement.
Adding a new shape to a Connector

The new shape (white) is dropped between the two existing shapes
and is automatically inserted between them.
124 • Formatting with Automatic Connectors SmartDraw User's Guide

Adding Connectors to a Drawing
You add automatic connectors to a drawing in the same way you
add any other object: using drag and drop or the pencil drawing
method.
SmartDraw offers an Automatic Connector tool on the Program
Toolbar. Dragging an object from this tool creates a horizontal
connector with a linear arrangement. Holding the Shift key down
while you drag creates a vertical connector.
Many of the diagram templates also offer ready-made connectors
in other arrangements in their document toolbar. For example, the
organization chart template offers a selection of connectors
suitable for drawing organization charts.
Changing a Connector’s Shape

Once you have added an automatic connector to a drawing, you
may change the arrangement it maintains (or its shape) using the
Change Connector Shape command on the Lines Menu. (This
replaces the Change Line Shape command when a connector is
selected).
Change Connector Shape

The Flip command (see page 64) can also be used to create
additional variations.
When no shapes are linked to a connector, it appears as either a
vertical or horizontal line. Its arrangement does not become
apparent until two or more shapes have been linked to it.
Adding Shapes to a Connector

When you move a shape or line close to an automatic connector,
connection points appear, and the outline of the moving object
jumps to the closest one, showing the position the object would
take if linked.
SmartDraw User's Guide Formatting with Automatic Connectors • 125

Releasing the mouse links the object to the automatic connector,
inserting the object at the link point.
Linking to an Automatic Connector

Moving a shape away from the automatic connector disconnects it,
and the shapes still linked to the automatic connector move
together to fill the space.
Breaking a Link to an Automatic Connector

Dragging a shape from one connection point to another changes
the order of the shapes.
Re-arranging a Link to an Automatic Connector
Linking Automatic Connectors to

Each Other
Automatic connectors can be linked to each other to create more
elaborate diagrams.

Organization Chart with Two Connectors
In the example above, the connector used to arrange the four
smaller shapes is linked to the one used for the two larger shapes.
This in turn is linked, like a line, to the top shape.
Adjusting the Connector Spacing

There is normally an equal amount of space between the edges of
shapes linked to an automatic connector. This regular spacing [C]
is controlled using the grow handles at each end of the main
connector line.
In addition to this regular spacing adjustment, you can also add to
the space between each shape attached to connector individually,
by clicking and dragging on the adjustment handles [D]
The length of the lines connecting the main line to each shape is
controlled by grow handles at the end of the first and last of these
lines (where they connect to the shapes) [B].
The length of the line connecting the connector to another object
[A] is controlled by the grow handle at the end of this line.
These relationships are shown in the figure below.

Grow Handles and their Parameters
Some connector arrangements have two lines that may connect to
other shapes at each end of the main connector line [A]. Only one
of these can be linked to another object at a given time.
Side Arm Connectors and their Parameters

The side arm lines of an automatic connector can be set to zero
length by tucking the grow handles "under" the line.. This gives a
clean end to the main connector line, where desired:
Automatic Connector with a Side Arm Length of Zero

Changing an Automatic Connector’s
Appearance
An automatic connector has the same attributes as a line, and the
Lines Menu commands can be used to set its thickness, color and
style.
Automatic connectors also can show arrowheads. These appear on
the lines connecting objects to the main connector line. Right
facing arrowheads always point to the linked objects, regardless
of their direction relative to the main connector line. Left facing
arrowheads point towards the main connector line.
Automatic connectors cannot have text associated with them (see
Attaching Text to Lines on page 93) and cannot be rotated.
Using Automatic Connectors in Flow

Charts
Linear automatic connectors can be useful as components in a flow
chart. A linear connector connects shapes in either a perfectly
horizontal or vertical line, as shown below:
Horizontal Automatic Connector with Arrowheads

To branch, other automatic connectors can be linked to the shapes
attached to the first automatic connector. This is shown below:
Horizontal and Vertical Automatic Connectors with Arrowheads

Next, normal segmented lines can be used to create additional
connections:

Flow Chart with Segmented Lines and Automatic Connectors
Now, adding another step to the main horizontal or vertical
automatic connector is as easy as drag and drop! The chart below
was derived from the one above by simply dropping the delay
symbol on the horizontal automatic connector.
Chart is Automatically Reformatted
Beginning Users
While automatic connectors are a powerful addition to flowchart
design, most beginning users will be better off using normal
“straight” lines and links as described in Connecting Lines and
Shapes on page 119.

Symbol Libraries
Libraries
In addition to the built-in shapes shown on the toolbar, SmartDraw
provides thousands more in Symbol Libraries.
Collections of symbols are divided into many separate libraries.
These are files on your hard disk.
Libraries are usually groups of symbols that are used by a
particular type of diagram. SmartDraw has hundreds of libraries
with symbols for flow charts, computer networks, space planning,
clip art, engineering, and many other kinds of diagrams.
Library Windows
The symbols in a library are displayed in a Library Window that
“floats” above the program window. Up to 16 library windows can
be open at the same time, each showing the contents of a different
library.
A Library Window
A library window shows rows of buttons, each displaying a
different symbol. The name of its library is shown in the window
title bar.
A library window has its own menu. This is used to change the
library displayed in the window, create new libraries and edit the
contents of the current library. It is the same as the Libraries menu
on the main menu bar.
When you click the minimize button at the top right of the
window, it shrinks the library to a minimized window at the
bottom of your screen. This is useful if you want to temporarily
move a library window out of the way.
SmartDraw User's Guide Symbol Libraries • 131

Changing the Size of the Buttons
The Small, Medium and Large commands on the Libraries menu
control the size of the buttons in a library window. You may select
the size that best suits both your display resolution and your eyes.
Complex clip art drawings generally look better with larger
buttons. These commands have no effect on toolbars, which have
buttons the same size as those on the Program Toolbar.
Symbol Names
You can use the Names command under the Libraries menu to
show the name of each drawing on its button instead of its picture.
This is the same name that shows in a ToolTip when the mouse is
moved over the symbol button.
Showing Names and Symbols

You can also choose to see large buttons with the symbol names
underneath by selecting the Large Button with Names command
under the Libraries menu.
Showing Relative Sizes

Choosing the Show Relative Sizes command under the Libraries
menu controls the relative size of the images shown on each
button.
When the menu item is checked, the largest image fills the space
on its own button and the rest of the images are scaled to be the
correct size, relative to the largest.
When the menu item is unchecked, each image fills the space
available on its own button, and all images appear to be the same
approximate size.
Symbol Types
There are two types of library symbols: Automatic and Metafile.
Automatic symbols are native SmartDraw objects, either alone or
in groups. Metafile symbols are images in Windows Metafile
format (WMF).
Both types have similar properties when added to a SmartDraw
document: They can be rotated, flipped, colored, typed-into and
manipulated in many of the same ways. Only automatic symbols
have all the special properties of the native SmartDraw shapes,
however.
Adding Symbols to a Drawing

Clicking on a button in a library window is the same as clicking on
a shape button in the Toolbar.
132 • Symbol Libraries SmartDraw User's Guide

Clicking and dragging on a library button drags and drops a copy
of the symbol shown on the button into the drawing. Clicking and
releasing the button changes the cursor to a pencil. Drawing with
the pencil (by holding down the mouse and dragging) draws a new
copy of the symbol.
When an automatic symbol, made up of more than one native
object or group, is dragged onto the page, each of its components is
drawn as a separate object at its original size.
Automatic Scaling of Symbols

Some symbols are set to size themselves based on the current ruler
settings automatically as they are added to a drawing. For
example, if a drawing has rulers set so that one screen inch is
equivalent to 48 inches, then a 36-inch desk symbol will be sized
automatically to be 0.75 inches long in the drawing. This is useful
for drawing floor plans and other scaled drawings.
Removing a Symbol from a Library

Remove a symbol from a library by clicking on its button in the
library window, and then selecting the Remove Symbol command
in the Libraries menu.
To change the image of a symbol, you must remove it completely
and then add a new image.
Document Toolbars
You can change a library window into a Document Toolbar by
dragging it to the top of a document window. As the library
window approaches the toolbar area, its gray outline changes to
toolbar shape. Releasing the mouse changes it to a document
toolbar. This is called docking the window.
You can do the reverse by dragging the toolbar away from the top
of the document window, so that the library window once again
floats over your drawing.
Each document can have only one toolbar at a given time.
Attempting to dock a second toolbar will fail. However, you can
dock a different toolbar to each open document.
When a document is maximized to fill the entire program window,
the document toolbar appears as a third row of buttons below the
program toolbar.

Document Toolbar below the Program Toolbar.
Bringing a new document to the front, with a different document

toolbar, changes the third row.
A document toolbar behaves just like a library window: You can
add symbols to it using drag and drop, you can transfer symbols to
and from other libraries, and so on.
When a document is saved, its relationship to its toolbar is saved
too, and the next time it is opened, the toolbar remains in place.
Many of the SmartDraw templates use this feature to automatically
open their own toolbars.
The most recently docked library becomes the default toolbar for
all new documents that don’t already have their own toolbars. You
can use this feature to create your own “permanent” third row to
the program toolbar: Simply dock your favorite library, and all
new documents will automatically have this toolbar.
Opening a Symbol Library

Symbol libraries are normally opened using the using the
SmartDraw Explorer described on page 66.
Any library window that was left open when the last drawing was
closed is always re-opened automatically (in the same location)
whenever a drawing is opened again.
Like SmartDraw documents, you can also open a library file by
dragging it from the Windows Explorer, and dropping it anywhere
in the program window.
The Open command under the File menu also allows you to open
libraries.
Searching for Symbols

You can search for a symbol by name using the Search Bar in the
SmartDraw Explorer (See page 68).

Changing the Settings for a Symbol
SmartDraw symbols have special properties used by SmartDraw to
control they way they change size or color and the way they
display text.
You can change the properties (but not the image) of an existing
symbol. To do this, either double-click on the drawing's button in
the library window, or select the button and then select the Edit
Symbol command in the Libraries menu. This presents the Edit
Symbol Dialog.
You can use this to change both existing symbols and new symbols
that you are adding to a library.
The Edit Symbol Dialog
Automatic Settings
If this box has a check mark (Automatic format), the symbol was
originally created with SmartDraw and it will behave as a native
SmartDraw object when added to a drawing. It automatically has
the properties of a native SmartDraw object and you cannot
override these using this dialog. .
If the box is unchecked, the symbol behaves like an imported
image. You can set its properties (width, height, resizing behavior
and text entry) using this dialog. (Metafile format).
Symbols created in SmartDraw itself can have either format.
Symbols created outside SmartDraw cannot have automatic
settings so for these symbols the Automatic checkbox is unchecked
and disabled.

Preferred Size
The width and height fields control the size of the symbol when it
is created using Drag and Drop. If the Grow setting is set to
Proportional, changing one value changes the other, so as to
maintain the same proportions.
This setting is grayed out for automatic symbols composed of more
than one native object, since their original size is maintained.
There are two ways to set the preferred size for a symbol: Use
Fixed Size and Scale to Ruler Settings.
If Use Fixed Size is selected, the shape is sized to exactly the
width and the height specified on the screen, regardless of the
rulers’ settings for the drawing. Your control panel sets the units of
this measurement. If your system is set to use metric units the
dimensions are in cm, otherwise they are in inches.
If Scale to Ruler Settings is selected, the symbol will scale to the
size dictated by the ruler settings of the drawing. For example, if
you set the preferred size for the symbol to be 1.0 meters, and you
add the symbol to a drawing with a ruler scale of 1.0 meter to the
inch, the symbol will be drawing exactly 1.0 inches long on the
screen. However, if you add the symbol to another drawing with a
scale of 0.1 meters to the inch, the shape will be drawn 10 inches
long.
Scale to Ruler Settings is very useful for drawing scaled drawings
like floor plans.
Grow
The four radio buttons control the way the symbols can be resized.
These settings are grayed out for automatic symbols.
Proportional drawings have only four grow handles (one at each
corner) and maintain their proportions when re-sized.
Horizontal Only drawings have only two grow handles and can be
re-sized only in the horizontal direction. This is good for drawings
that represent horizontal lines.
Vertical Only drawings have only two grow handles and can be
re-sized only in the vertical direction. This is good for drawings
that represent vertical lines.
No restrictions allows drawings to grow in all directions without
maintaining proportions. These drawings have the usual 8 grow
handles.
These values can be changed for symbols already added to a
drawing using the Shape Sizing command (page 60).

Enter Text
You can enter text into symbols. This text can be Inside the
drawing like the standard 24 shapes, or Above or Below it. The
fourth choice, No text, means that the drawing will not respond to
the normal text entry commands.
If Inside the drawing is selected, four margin lines appear inside
the Image window. These should be adjusted so that the text area
within the four lines does not overlap the boundaries of the
symbols.
These settings are also grayed out for automatic symbols. The
native objects in these symbols retain their own text sizing
properties.
Attaching to Lines
You can adjust the attachment point used to link the symbol to a
line by defining its position as a percentage (with up to two
decimal places) from the top-left of the shape. You can also adjust
it manually in the image window. The attachment point is show as
a hollow diamond in the image window. You can drag it around
using the mouse.
Only symbols that are non-automatic (metafiles), or that have just
one shape, can be linked to lines and hence show attachment
points.
Image Window
The image window shows the symbol image against a grid of
green lines. A dotted border shows the edges of the rectangle that
encloses the symbol.
A non-automatic symbol has 16 Connection Points shown as
solid black circles. These are the points at which lines and other
shapes will link to this drawing. Automatic symbols use the
connection points of their native objects.
Shapes that can be linked to lines also show a hollow black
diamond representing the attachment point.
Clicking on the circles and dragging with the mouse button held
down moves them. The connection points should be arranged on
the borders of the symbol. To be active, connection points must lie
outside the margin lines (whether text is entered Inside the
Drawing or not).
You can finely adjust the position of connection points using the
F5, F6, F7 and F8 keys. The point you last clicked on, moves left,
right, up or down by 1 pixel when these keys are typed.

When the text setting is Inside the Drawing, four margin lines
appear. Clicking on the square handles at each end and dragging
can move these. By default, these are set to create the smallest text
entry area possible between all four lines. This should be expanded
to allow the largest area that still forces all text to lie within the
borders of the shape. When text is entered Above or Below the
drawing, the margin lines are ignored.
Colors
Checking this box allows SmartDraw to change the color of the
fills, lines, border and text that show in non-automatic symbols.
The style and thickness of borders and lines can also be changed.
These settings are controlled by the Shape menu, not the Line or
Text menu.
The color of the text, lines and borders follows the Border Color
setting. The fills follow the Fill Color. Transparent fills are not
affected by the fill color.
If this box is not checked, the drawing behaves like an imported
image. Applying a border style places a border around the symbol
but does not change the content of the symbol itself.
The substitution of colors for lines, fills etc. may not work for all
symbols. If the image contains bit mapped images these may be
unaffected by checking the color box. The rules are: All pens used
follow the border style and color. Black fills follow the border
color. Text color follows the border color. Non-black fills follow
the Fill color. Transparent fills used by the drawing are left alone.
If you check this box you should experiment with a copy of the
symbol to see the effects of color changes. If these are not
satisfactory, return to the dialog and un-check the box again.
The colors and other properties of automatic symbols can always
be changed. Remember that checking this box causes a copy of the
symbol to adopt the current default color scheme when added to a
drawing.
Symbol Name
You can assign each symbol in a library an optional name using
the Symbol Name field. This is the name that shows in the
ToolTip when the cursor is moved over the symbol in the library
window.
It is also the name that is displayed on the button if you choose the
Names command from the Libraries menu.
The naming feature is useful when more detail is required than an
image might show. For example, an IBM PS/2 computer may

appear to be similar to another PC when looking at the thumbnail
image shown on the symbol buttons. Their names are quite
different however, and showing the names in a ToolTip makes
them easily distinguishable.
Names are also used when searching for a symbol by word (page
134). Additional keywords to be matched in searches may be
entered following the name. Just put a semicolon after the name,
then list your keywords, each separated by a space. Words after the
semicolon are not displayed in the ToolTip, or when names are
shown on the buttons.
You can add names in different languages. By default the names
searched and shown as ToolTips match the language of your
SmartDraw Installation. If a native name is not present, English is
used.
Adding New Symbols to a Library

Adding Symbols from SmartDraw
Adding a new symbol to a library is a simple Drag and Drop
operation. Any object, or collection of objects dragged from a
SmartDraw document window and dropped onto a library window,
may be added as a new symbol.
This operation is an extension of a standard object move operation.

If, while moving one or more objects using the mouse, you
position the cursor over an open library window, the cursor
changes to the Library Drop Cursor, shown at the left. If you
release the mouse at this point, the Edit Symbol dialog (page 135)
appears. The new symbol, composed of the objects that you were
moving, shows in the Image window. Pressing OK adds the objects
to the library as a new symbol.
You can use the Edit Symbol dialog to set the appropriate
properties for your new symbol, before adding it. You can also use
it later to modify the properties, if necessary.
Note that because collections of native objects can be stored and
retrieved in libraries unchanged, you can use symbol libraries as a
Scrapbook for pieces of diagrams you might want to reuse.
Adding a Symbol from Another Program

You can use almost any Windows drawing program to create a
new symbol. All that is required is to be able to load an image to
the Windows clipboard in standard Windows metafile format.

Metafiles are placed on the clipboard when you use the Copy
command under the Edit menu in most graphics programs.
To add a symbol to a currently open library, first copy it to the
clipboard and then select the Add New Symbol command under
the Libraries menu. The Edit Symbol dialog is presented just as if
you had dropped an image onto the library.
Images from other programs cannot have automatic settings.
Transferring Drawings between

Libraries
Copying a symbol from one library to another is also a simple
drag-and-drop procedure. Click on the drawing that you want to
copy, then drag with the mouse, just as if you were going to drag a
copy into the drawing. However, instead of releasing the mouse
button over the drawing window (which adds a copy to the
drawing), release it over the library window, or document toolbar,
that you want to copy the symbol to.
When releasing the mouse would result in copying the symbol to
another library, the cursor will change to the shape shown at the
left.
This is a useful feature if you want to collect the symbols you use
most often into one or two libraries. You can also use it to sort the
order of the drawings in the library by dragging them in the order
you want to a new library.
Creating a New Library

You can create your own symbol libraries using the Create New
Library command in the Libraries menu. This displays the Create
a New Symbol Library Dialog.

The Create a New Symbol Dialog
To use this dialog to create a new library, enter a name for into the
Name field.
Select a category for the library using the Select button. This
displays the Browse for Folder dialog, displaying the current tree
of library categories. Simply select the one you want.
The Browse for Folder Dialog

You can also add your own categories by pressing the Create a
New Category button. This displays the Create a New Category
Dialog

The Create a New Category Dialog
You can create a sub-category inside the category you already have
selected, or create a new top level category that is not inside any
other by selecting the appropriate radio button.
You must enter a name for the new category before you can press
the OK button.
Once you have selected a category and a library name, pressing
OK from the Create dialog creates the new library, and if
necessary the new category. This is reflected immediately in the
SmartDraw Explorer panel and the library is opened.
Your new library window, because it is empty, will show no
buttons. You can add drawings to the new library by dragging
them from SmartDraw drawings, other libraries, or by using the
Add New Symbol command as described above.

The Library Builder Wizard converts graphics files, in many
popular formats, into SmartDraw libraries. It can convert an entire
folder of graphics files into one or more libraries, or it can convert
a tree of many folders into many libraries organized into
categories.
The Library Builder Wizard is ideal for converting your clipart
files into SmartDraw symbols. It can convert thousands of images
in just a few minutes.
Open the Library Builder Wizard by selecting the command of
the same name from the Libraries menu.

Converting your files requires just five steps:
STEP 1: Choose the File Format

Select the file format of the graphics files that you want to import.
The choices are the same as those offered by the Import command.
Files in scaleable formats like Windows Metafiles (WMF),
Postscript and AutoCAD format make better SmartDraw symbols
than non-scaleable bitmapped files like BMP, JPG and GIF.
STEP 2: Select the Files to Convert

Use the Browse button to select the folder that contains the
graphics files you want to convert.
The radio button controls how the files in the selected folder are
converted into libraries.
Selecting Convert all of the files in this folder into one library,
will convert any files of the type selected under STEP 1 that are
stored in this folder into a library with that folder name. For
example, if you are converting 20 WMF files from a folder called
Garden Tools, these will be converted into one library called
Garden Tools.
If there are more than 40 files in the folder selected, then two or
more libraries will be created. Their names include a number:
Garden Tools-1, Garden Tools-2 and so on.

Selecting Convert all of the files in this folder’s subfolders into
multiple libraries will convert any files of the type selected under
STEP 1 that are stored in each of the selected folder’s subfolders
into separate libraries, each with the same name as their subfolder.
For example, if the Tools folder is selected, and it contains three
subfolders called Garden Tools, Garage Tools and Woodshop
Tools, three libraries called Garden Tools, Garage Tools and
Woodshop Tools will be created.
If the subfolders like Garden Tools, themselves contain subfolders,
then files in these subfolders will also be converted into libraries
with their subfolder name and so on: The whole folder tree starting
with the folder selected will be converted into a tree of libraries.
STEP 3: Select the Category for the New Libraries

Use the Browse button to select the library category that will
contain your newly created library.
For example, if you choose Clipart & Flyers/Tools as the
category, using our earlier example, the new library Garden Tools
will be created in this category and will appear there as an icon in
the SmartDraw Explorer.
If you choose to generate a tree of libraries, by selecting Convert
all of the files in this folder’s subfolders into multiple libraries
in STEP 2, the whole tree will be added to the category you
choose.
STEP 4: Select the Symbol Properties

You can also specify the properties of each symbol in the new
library by clicking on the Properties button in STEP 4. This
displays the Set Symbol Properties Dialog.
Set Symbol Properties Dialog

You can choose how each symbol will grow, where text will be
attached to it, and whether it will respond to color changes. These

settings are explained in more detail in Changing the Settings for a
Symbol.
The settings for Preferred Size allow you to set the scale for each
symbol.
If you check the Use Fixed Size radio button, symbols maintain
their actual size. For example, if a picture of a desk is actually one
inch wide, the preferred size of the symbol in the completed library
will be 1.00 inches.
Checking Scale to Ruler Settings allows you to scale each
symbol. If you are converting a collection of symbols that are
drawn to scale, say 48 inches to the inch, you can set this scale by
entering 48 into the Scale field. Then each of the symbols imported
will be created with Preferred Size set to Scale to Ruler Settings,
and a size equal to 48x their actual size. A one-inch desk will be
set to a preferred size of 48 inches, and will scale to the ruler
settings when it is added to a drawing.
STEP 5: Convert the Files

The final step is to press the Convert Files button to begin the
conversion process. You can watch the libraries being built,
symbol-by-symbol. Once completed, the SmartDraw Explorer
updates itself and expands to show the new libraries.
Adding Credits to a Library

You can add supplemental (or credit) information to any library
that you create. If a library has credits, a button appears at the
bottom of the library window. You can define the text on that
button and the message that appears when a user clicks on the
button. Do this by selecting the Credits command from the
Library menu. The Define Library Credits Dialog is displayed.

The Define Library Credits Dialog
The text you enter in the Credit Button Label field will show in a
new button that appears at the bottom of the library window.
Clicking on this button, or selecting the Credits command on the

Library menu again, displays the Show Credits Dialog.

Show Credits Dialog
The text you entered in the Dialog Text field appears in the body
of this dialog. If you enter a web address in the Web Site Button
field, the Go To Web Page button will appear in the Show Credits
dialog. Pressing it will launch the browser and load that web
address.
Entering an advisor name (see page 200) into the Advisor File
field will cause that advisor to open automatically when the library
is opened (except as a document toolbar) and will cause the Show
Advisor button to appear in the Show Credits Dialog. Pressing
this button shows the advisor manually.
The Credit button appears as a copyright symbol when the library
is docked as a toolbar.
To edit existing credit settings for a library, hold the Ctrl Key down
as you select the Credits command from the Libraries Menu. This
will cause the Define Library Credits Dialog to display.
Using the Language list control you can enter different Credits
information for each language supported by SmartDraw. You can
also apply the Credits information defined in the dialog to all
libraries in the same category folder by checking the box at the
bottom of the dialog before you click on the OK button. Note that
the credits are applied for all languages, not just the one showing
in the Language list.
Sharing Libraries on a Network

Libraries can be shared by multiple users on a network, or by
multiple document toolbars used by the same user.
When a library is opened more than once, the second and later
clients open the library as read-only. Only the first client to open
the library has write permission. Read-only libraries cannot be
edited, and symbols cannot be added or removed.

Creating Your Own Shapes
Joining Lines to Make a New Shape

You can create a new shape by joining together any collection of
lines and curves that form a closed loop. Use the Join to Make a
New Shape command, under the Line menu.
Joining Lines to Make a New Shape

The newly created shape is like any other: It can be filled. It can be
rotated and you can type text into it. You can also drop it on a
library window or document toolbar to create a new library
symbol.
Shapes created this way are called Polygon Shapes. They have
infinite connect points, and their text editing areas that are assigned
automatically.
If the lines do not quite touch each other to form a closed loop, the
Join command will fail. If this happens use a view of 200% or
more to clearly see the ends of the lines you are trying to join, and
adjust them until they meet.
Changing Existing Shapes

Any of the 24 built-in SmartDraw shapes, and Polygon Shapes
made by joining lines, can be split apart into their component lines
and curves using the Edit Shape Outline command under the
Shapes menu. This is the reverse of the Join command described
above.
Separating a Shape into its Components

Once separated into lines and curves, the outline of the shape can
be adjusted and then re-combined into a re-designed shape.
148 • Creating Your Own Shapes SmartDraw User's Guide

Re-designing a Shape
Grouping and Ungrouping

Two or more objects may be combined into a Grouped Object
using the Group command under the Arrange menu. The
Ungroup command reverses this. Ungrouping can also separate
imported images into native SmartDraw shapes (page 165).
Properties of Grouped Objects

Object groups behave as a single object in some respects, and as
individual objects in others. The following operations treat a
group as a single object:
• Clicking on any member of the group selects the group.
• Changing properties (color, thickness, font etc.) affects all
members of the group.
• Moving the group moves all members of the group.
• Sizing the group sizes all members of the group.
• Rotation rotates the group as if it were a single object.
• Flipping reflects the group as if it were a single object.
• Duplicating, copying and pasting applies to the group as a
whole.
The following operations treat a group as individual objects:

• Lines link to individual objects within a group.
• Shapes attach to automatic connectors and other shapes as
individual objects.
• Text is edited and entered independently for each object in the
group.
• Other files remain hyperlinked to individual group members
after they are grouped.
Grouping objects that are already in a group with other objects

simply combines them all into a single group. There is no
hierarchy of groups.
SmartDraw User's Guide Creating Your Own Shapes • 149

Ungrouping Imported Images
You can also ungroup most imported images into native
SmartDraw objects. This is described in Ungrouping Imported
Images.
Adding Groups to Symbol Libraries

A grouped object may be added to a library as a new symbol by
simply dragging it onto a library window. Groups retain their
properties as library symbols, and are drawn as a grouped object
when introduced into a drawing.
Note that grouping a grouped object with other objects and then
ungrouping it again will break it apart into its constituents.
150 • Creating Your Own Shapes SmartDraw User's Guide

Viewing and Printing
The SmartDraw Drawing Area

SmartDraw has a drawing area with a fixed size of 50x50 inches,
and it is one of the few drawing programs that will let you draw a
diagram this large.
Very few printers support paper sizes that are this large, so the
drawing area is divided up into page-sized rectangles (or tiles)
shown with dotted lines.
Fit to Window View Showing Page-sized Tiles

Since the dotted lines represent the dimensions of the page
currently selected for this document, they change position when
you change page orientation from Portrait to Landscape, or
change the paper size using the Page Setup command under the
File menu.
SmartDraw User's Guide Viewing and Printing • 151

If the currently selected printer supports large format paper sizes
(like E-sized) you can select this as the current paper size and the
dotted page boundaries will reflect this, allowing you to print a
large drawing on a single sheet.
Changing the View

While all SmartDraw drawings can occupy an area of up to 50x50
inches, unless your drawing is very large, you normally work only
with a small part of this potential area, up in the top left corner.
The View menu items 200%, 150%, 100%, 75%, 50%, Fit to
Page, Fit to Window and Custom… control the scale used to
display a drawing in its drawing window. 100% is the scale used
by most Windows programs to show objects at their natural size.
The other scales make objects look smaller or bigger than they
really are.
These scale factors have no effect on the size of shapes and lines
when they are printed out, only as viewed on the screen.
As you change the view, SmartDraw attempts to keep all of your
objects in the visible part of your window. If this is not possible, it
tries to keep all selected objects in view. If this is not possible, it
tries to keep the center of the selected set of objects centered in the
window.
You can cycle up and down through the views using the Scale Up
and Scale Down toolbar buttons.
Choosing the Custom… command under the View menu presents
the Set Window Scale Dialog. You can use this to set the scale to
any values between 5% and 400%.
Set Window Scale Dialog
The Fit to Page selection scales the window to show at least one
complete page.
152 • Viewing and Printing SmartDraw User's Guide

The Fit to Window selection shows the whole 50 inches of the
drawing in the document window.
Setting the Ruler Scale

Two rulers normally appear at the top and left of the document
window. You can set their divisions, units, and origin using the Set
Rulers and Grids Dialog, which is accessed via the Define
Rulers and Grid command under the View Menu. To quickly
access this dialog, right-click on the ruler.
Set Rulers and Grid Dialog

Entering a value for Show sets the number of units for each major
division on the ruler. Major divisions fall either every inch or every
centimeter on the screen. This is set using the Inch or cm radio
buttons.
The actual units chosen using the drop down list do not change the
appearance of the rulers, but do affect the units shown for lines
with automatic dimensioning. This is described in more detail on
page 94. They also affect the automatic sizing of shapes added
from libraries (page 133).
The number of subdivisions per major division can also be set
using the drop down list.
The rulers can be hidden by checking or un-checking the Hide
and Show checkbox in the dialog.

Setting the Ruler Origin
You can set the position where you want the origin (the zero point)
of the rulers, by typing in a distance from the left or top edge.
An easier way to do this is to hold down the Ctrl-key and click the
ruler with the mouse at the point that you want to be zero. Double-
clicking the ruler accomplishes the same thing.
Double clicking in the area in the top-left of the drawing, where
the rulers intersect, sets the origin back to the top-left.
Snaps
The Snaps setting, at the bottom of this dialog, controls the way
shapes align to the snap-to grid. The default setting snaps the
centers of shapes to the grid. This is important if line linking (see
page 120) is used to connect shapes (as in flowcharting) because it
ensures that the lines connecting the centers of shapes remain
perfectly horizontal or vertical. On the other hand, if you were
drawing a floor plan, you would want the top left corner of your
objects to snap to the grid.
Printing
For drawings that fit on one page, printing is very straightforward.
Pressing the Print button on the toolbar prints a single copy to
your default printer.
Using the Print command under the File menu presents the Print
dialog, which gives you many more options, including the number
of copies and the range of pages to print. The range is only relevant
when a drawing extends across multiple pages. The shape and size
of these pages are determined by the Page Setup selections,
described on page 155.
Printing Multiple Page Drawings

SmartDraw does not normally print the entire 50x50 inch drawing
area. It prints only the rectangular array of pages that the drawing
actually touches. If your drawing lies completely within one page,
only that page is printed. If your drawing extends across a page
boundary, it is printed on two or more pages.

Multiple Page Drawing
In the example above, four pages are printed, marked 1,2,3, and 4.
The top-left page of the array of pages that contain the drawing is
printed as page 1. The remaining pages are then printed, starting
with the page to the right of page 1, and proceeding from top left to
bottom right across each row.
When a page range is specified in the Print dialog, the page
numbering follows this scheme. For example, to print the bottom
right page only, in the example above, you would specify a range
of page 4 through 4.
If your drawing occupies more than one page, an ideal printer
would print to the edge of each sheet of paper so that the drawing
could be pieced together afterwards to form one continuous sheet.
However, almost all printers have a gap, between ¼ inch and ½
inch, at the edge of each page, into which they cannot print.
SmartDraw takes this minimum margin into account and shows the
printable area of each page with dotted lines on your screen.
Printing on One Page

Even if your drawing takes up more than one page on the screen,
you can still print it on one sheet of paper by checking the Print on
One Page box in Print dialog. You won’t see this dialog if you
print by clicking on the Print button in the toolbar, so use the Print
command on the File menu instead.
For best results, choose a page orientation (Portrait or Landscape)
that matches the shape of your drawing (tall or wide). Of course, if
your drawing is very large it may not be readable when printed on
one page.
Page Setup
The Page Setup command, under the File menu, is used to set the
following parameters:
• Page orientation
• Paper size

• Printer
• Printer properties
• Printing Options
This information is stored with each drawing. If you change a
printer property using this command it will affect only the drawing
in the front-most window. Changes will have no effect on any
other program, any other drawing, or on the global printer settings.
The Page Setup command presents the Page Setup Dialog.
The Page Setup Dialog

The printer assigned to a particular drawing may be either the
Default or a Specific printer.
The Default printer is the one currently specified in the Windows
Control Panel. If the printer assigned to a drawing is set to the
default, its assigned printer changes to the new default each time
you change the default printer, either by using the Control Panel or
by moving the drawing to a different computer. New drawings are
set to the default printer when they are created.
If you choose a printer other than the default, you assign a Specific
printer to that drawing The next time you print it, it will
automatically select the same printer, no matter what the default

printer setting is. If this printer is no longer available, you are
prompted to select another when the drawing is re-opened.
The remaining controls in the Page Setup dialog let you choose a
paper size and orientation. If you have more than one drawing
open, these choices apply only to the current front-most drawing.
Overlap
Checking the checkbox marked Allow 1/6" Overlap... causes a
small strip of each page to be printed again on the pages that
surround it (on multiple page drawings). This makes it easier to
paste together the pages of large drawings.
Options
Selecting the checkboxes in the Options section allows you to
define preferences for printing your drawing. For more
information on printing your drawing and applying these options
see "The Print Dialog" on page 158.
Print Preview
The Print Preview command puts SmartDraw into Print Preview
mode. The Print Preview button on the toolbar (shown at left) can
also be used as a shortcut for this command.
Print Preview Mode

In print preview mode, the program window shows a
representation of a printed page. For drawings that require more
than one page to print, the scrollbar on the right controls which

page is previewed. The current page number is shown at the top
left of the toolbar.
The toolbar has four buttons: Close, which ends the preview mode,
Page Setup, which opens the Page Setup dialog, Print, which ends
the preview and presents the Print dialog, and a Help button. You
can use the Page Setup Dialog to change the size and shape of
your paper and immediately see the results in the Print Preview
area below. You can also test the Print on One Page option.
The Print Dialog

The Print command under the File menu presents the Print
Dialog. You can use this to control the range of pages printed, the
number of copies and several other options.
The Print Dialog
Printer
The currently selected printer is shown at the top of the dialog.
You can change to a different printer using the drop down list.

Selecting a Range to Print
The Print dialog provides three choices for the range of pages to
print.
• All causes all the pages that the drawing touches to be
printed.
• Selection causes all the pages that the selected objects in
the drawing touch to be printed.
• Pages, allows a range of the pages touched by the whole
drawing to be selected for printing.
Printing Multiple Copies

You can print more than one copy of your selected range of pages,
by entering the number of copies you want in the Copies field.
The Collate Copies checkbox determines the order in which the

copies of the pages of a drawing will be printed.
If the range selected requires only one page to print, this setting
has no effect.
If the range selected involves more than one page, then checking
the box will cause multiple copies to be printed so that the pages
are in collated order: page 1, 2, 3... followed by page 1, 2, 3.... and
so on.
Un-checking the box will cause all copies of page 1 to be printed,
followed by all copies of page 2 and so on. Non-collated printing
(where available) is often faster than collated printing.
For printers that do not have enough memory to store a whole page
(like dot matrix printers) the Collate Copies box is often checked
and made inactive.
Print on One Page

Checking this box causes the entire drawing to be scaled down and
printed on a single page. This may result in reduced legibility. This
affects only the printed drawing, and will not change the view of
the drawing on your screen.
Print No Color
Checking this box causes the drawing to be printed in black and
white only. All borders, lines and text are made black, and the
background and shape fills are made white. This often gives
sharper results with non-color printers, and requires much less
printer memory than printing in color.

Print Page Footers
Checking this box causes a footer showing the name of the
drawing, the number of the page, and the current date and time to
be printed at the bottom of each page.
Define Footer
This button becomes visible when the Print Page Footer box is
checked. Pressing it brings the Define Footer Dialog into view.
The Define Footer Dialog

Changing the setting of the Position buttons changes the position
of the footer. The footer can be placed at the very bottom of the
printable area of the page, or 1/4 inch or 1/2 inch above the
bottom.
Pressing the Font button displays the Windows Font Dialog. This
lets you choose the font, size and style for the footer text. A point
size of 10 or less is recommended.
Print the Grid

Checking this box causes the grid on the drawing area to print
behind your drawing. On color printers, the grid will print in
green.
Print To File
Checking this box causes the printed image to be stored in a file on
disk instead of being printed to the printer.

Keyboard Navigation
Selecting with the Tab Key

If no objects in your drawing are selected, typing the Tab key
selects the first one. If one or more objects are already selected,
typing the Tab key moves the selection from the current Target
object (page 115) to the next object in the drawing.
Selecting the next object with the Tab key
By typing the Tab key in this way, you can select each object in the
drawing one-by-one.
Typing a Shift-Tab reverses direction and selects the previous
object in the drawing.
The Tab Order

The order in which objects become selected as you type the Tab
key iscalled the Tab Order. It is the same as the front-to-back
order described on page 117.
It is also the order in which objects were created, unless you use
the Bring to Front or Send to Back commands to change this
order.
Text Entry and the Tab Key

If you are entering text into a shape, typing the Tab key selects the
next shape in the tab order and opens it for text editing. Shift-Tab
does the same in the reverse order.
SmartDraw User's Guide Keyboard Navigation • 161

You can use this feature to enter text in your shapes the way you
would fill in a form: Double-click on the first shape and enter text.
Then tab to the next shape, enter text, tab again and so on.
If you are entering text into a table (page 100) the Tab key moves
you to the next text entry field in the table. Once you reach the last
table field, a tab takes you to the next shape. The keyboard
navigation in tables is smoothly integrated into navigation between
shapes.
You can enter a tab character into a shape by typing Ctrl-alt-tab.
SmartDraw and Forms

The combination of SmartDraw’s table objects and the ability to
tab from shape to shape make it an ideal solution for designing
interactive forms that you can fill out on the screen.
Another key to designing interactive forms is the ability to prevent
certain objects and fields within tables from being edited. You
don’t want the labels and other fixed text in a form to be edited by
someone filling it out. You also want to avoid having these fixed
objects selected for text editing as you tab from field to field.
In tables you can eliminate cells from the tab order by freezing
them using the Do Not Allow Text Editing command under the
Table menu.
You can also freeze the text in shapes using the Text Entry
Properties command described on page 90.
162 • Keyboard Navigation SmartDraw User's Guide

Using SmartDraw with Other
Programs
Copying and Pasting

You can exchange information between SmartDraw and other
programs using the clipboard and the standard Edit commands,
Cut, Copy and Paste.
The clipboard is a place that Windows temporarily stores text,
pictures and other data that have been Copied so that they can be
transferred to another document or program with a Paste
command.
When you are editing text, Copy, Cut and Paste act on the text in
the standard Windows way. When you are not editing text entire
images are transferred to and from the clipboard.
Each of these commands has a button on the toolbar you can use
instead of the Edit menu.
Cut and Copy

The Copy command transfers all or part of the drawing to the
clipboard. Its behavior depends on what is selected.
When nothing is selected, a representation of the whole drawing is
copied to the clipboard (as a metafile). This drawing can then be
pasted into word processors and other applications.
SmartDraw is an OLE Server. If another application supports
Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) as a client, pasting the
drawing also pastes a copy of the SmartDraw file itself into the
application, so that double-clicking on the pasted drawing will
open it up in SmartDraw again. This is explained in more detail in
Using SmartDraw with Microsoft Office on page 176.
When one or more shapes or lines are selected, the Copy command
copies just those shape and lines to the clipboard. They can be
pasted back into a SmartDraw drawing, or pasted (as a picture) into
another program.
SmartDraw User's Guide Using SmartDraw with Other Programs • 163

Cut is a combination of Clear and Copy. It first copies any
selected objects to the clipboard, and then deletes them.
Paste
If the clipboard contains shapes or lines copied from SmartDraw,
using Paste adds these to the current drawing. If the clipboard
contains an image from another program it is pasted into the
drawing as an Image Object.
Image Objects
When images from other programs are imported or pasted into
SmartDraw they become Image Objects. These can be thought of
as rectangular shapes, initially with no border, with the image
inside.
An image object can be moved and arranged like any other shape.
Normally when you resize them they maintain their proportions.
However, if the Shift Key is held down while the object is resized,
you can resize it to any proportion. Like other shapes, you can
change an image object’s sizing behavior using the Shape Sizing
command (see page 60), under the Shapes Menu.
When you try to type into image object, the text goes beneath the
object (as a linked background text object), instead of inside.
Applying color and border changes to image objects either adds a
border, or changes the colors in the image, depending on the
Change Colors setting in the Shape Sizing dialog. (See page
135.)
You can also ungroup most imported images into native
SmartDraw objects using the Ungroup command under the
Arrange menu. (See page 165).
Importing Images From Other

Programs
You can import images from other programs into SmartDraw
using the Import command under the File menu. This shows the
Import Dialog. This is the same as the Open Dialog and is used to
select the file to be imported.
Before you can import a file you must select the correct type using
the Files of Type control.
SmartDraw Standard supports import of files in Windows Metafile
format, Enhanced Metafile format, and several bitmapped formats,
including, BMP, PC PaintBrush (PCX), GIF, JPG and TIFF.
164 • Using SmartDraw with Other Programs SmartDraw User's Guide

SmartDraw Professional imports a much wider variety of formats
including:
• AutoCAD(DXF)
• CGM
• HPGL
• PDF
• CorelDraw
• MicroGrafx Draw
• Visio
Once imported, images become Image Objects.
Ungrouping Imported Images

With the exception of the bitmapped formats (BMP, PCX, GIF,
JPG and TIFF), all image objects, whether imported or pasted into
SmartDraw, are stored in WMF (Windows Metafile) format. You
can ungroup these images into native SmartDraw objects using the
Ungroup command under the Arrange menu.
When you use the Ungroup command on an image object the
Separate Drawing dialog is presented.
If, when you select a imported image, the Ungroup command is
gray and not available then your image is most likely a bitmap and
cannot be ungrouped.
Separate Drawing Dialog
This dialog presents several options that control the way the image
will be separated into SmartDraw objects.

SmartDraw performs many advanced techniques to convert crude
metafile images into useful formats for flowcharting, including
joining shapes to the end of lines as arrowheads, combining lines
of text into paragraphs, placing text inside shapes, and joining line
segments together into one segmented line. These techniques are
based on empirical rules and are not always perfect. If you have
imported images that do not convert well to flowcharts contact us
support@smartdraw.com. We are always working to improve
this process.
Defaults
Selecting the Flowcharts choice automatically selects the optimal
combination of the separation settings for decomposing images of
flowcharts. The Freehand choice does the same for freehand
drawings.
Combine text into paragraphs

Text in imported images is separated into single line strings, where
each string has one typeface. If this box is checked SmartDraw will
attempt to combine these strings into one paragraph. The setting
for single or double space indicates how much space SmartDraw
should allow between lines before it terminates one text block and
creates another.
Place text inside existing shapes

When this box is checked, the text blocks detected by
SmartDraw’s conversion process are placed inside any shapes
detected if they lie on top of each other. SmartDraw will even
detect the appropriate alignment of the text inside the shape.
Convert small shapes at the end of lines into

arrowheads
With this box checked SmartDraw attempts to recognize
arrowheads at the end of lines.
Separate segmented lines into individual line objects

With this box checked, SmartDraw will treat perpendicular lines
that could be represented as a single segmented line as separate
lines.
Separate curves and other sequences of lines into

individual objects.
Freehand drawings often have many complex curves. These can be
decomposed into hundreds (and sometimes thousands) of
SmartDraw lines, or left combined as a single curved image.

Checking this box forces their decomposition into many short
straight lines. This is usually best left unchecked.
Opening Files Created with Other

Flowchart Programs
SmartDraw uses its ability to decompose metafiles into useable
flowcharts to convert files created with other programs into
SmartDraw format.
To convert a file from Visio into SmartDraw format, just open the
Visio file using the Open command under the file menu. [Note!
Your Visio file must be saved with a Detailed Preview. Check this
using the Properties command under the Visio File menu.] Choose
Visio for the file type in the Open Dialog. The file opens and the
Separate Drawing dialog appears (page 165). The settings for
conversion of flowcharts are already selected, but this gives you an
opportunity to adjust them if your drawing does not convert well
with the default settings. Press OK and the drawing is converted to
native SmartDraw shapes and lines.
With other programs likes Flowcharter, Flow Charting PDQ, and
others, your must first save your flowchart to Windows Metafile
format (WMF) using the program’s own export or save command.
Then you can open the WMF file with SmartDraw.
Opening native Visio files requires SmartDraw Professional. WMF
files from Visio, and other flowchart programs, can be opened with
SmartDraw Standard.
SmartDraw File Conversion Wizard

The SmartDraw File Conversion Wizard is designed to make it
easy for you to join the thousands of users who have switched from
another competing product to SmartDraw.
It can be used to convert whole folders of files created with Visio,
ABC Flowcharter and other programs into SmartDraw format.
To convert files Using the Wizard, the program you are converting
from must be installed on your system, because the wizard uses
that program as part of the conversion process.
If you do not have a copy of Visio, you can still convert Visio files
to SmartDraw format using the Open command (File menu), but
the conversion may be limited. To use the Open command, the
files must have been saved from Visio with a detailed preview. The
Open method is also limited in that it converts only one page of a
multi-page Visio file. The File Conversion Wizard, however,

uses the installed Visio program to convert all of the pages, and
does so without regard to the type of preview.
You open the File Conversion Wizard from the SmartDraw File
menu.
File Conversion Wizard
Converting your files requires just three steps.
STEP 1
First use the list control to select the type of file you want to
convert. Several popular formats are listed, but you can choose
Other to convert a format not listed. For any format you choose,
the source program must be present on your computer, and this
program must be an OLE server. The Wizard will warn you if you
choose a format that does not meet these criteria.
STEP 2
Next choose the file or files that you want to convert. You can
choose to convert all of the files of the type you have selected that
reside in particular file folder, or just one file. Before you choose
to convert all the files in a folder you might want to convert one of
them as a test.

STEP 3
Start the conversion process. As the Wizard converts your files you
may see activity from the application that created the files and
SmartDraw itself. It typically takes between 10 and 60 seconds to
convert each file. The converted files are stored in the same folder
as the original files with the same name, but different file type. For
example, if you have a Visio file:
C:\MyDrawings\flowchart.vsd
The Wizard will create a corresponding SmartDraw file:
C:\MyDrawings\flowchart.sdr
If the Visio file has multiple pages the Wizard will create a
SmartDraw file for each page:
C:\MyDrawings\flowchart-Page1.sdr
C:\MyDrawings\flowchart-Page2.sdr
……
Fine Tuning
The Wizard extracts a Windows metafile from each file to be
converted. Then it decomposes the metafile into native SmartDraw
objects. By default, the settings for this decomposition are
optimized for converting flowcharts, organization charts and
similar diagrams. You can adjust these settings by pressing the
Fine Tuning button in the Wizard dialog to display the Separate
Drawings dialog described on page 165.
Exporting Drawings
You can export SmartDraw drawings in several standard Windows
file formats using the Export command under the File menu. This
presents the Export Dialog, which is used to specify the name of
the exported file and its format. This is similar to the Save Dialog.
Use the Files of Type control to change the format of the exported
file.
SmartDraw Standard supports export of files in Windows Metafile,
Enhanced Metafile, and several bitmapped formats, including,
BMP, PC PaintBrush (PCX), GIF, JPG, TIFF and HTML.
SmartDraw Professional exports a much wider variety of formats
including:
• AutoCAD(DXF)

• CGM
• HPGL
• PDF
• MicroGrafx Draw
Exporting to Bitmapped Files

SmartDraw exports to several bitmapped file formats including
BMP, TIFF, GIF, JPG and PCX. All of these formats represent an
image as a pattern of colored dots, called a bitmap.
Bitmaps are commonly used as image formats on web pages, but
otherwise are not the best format for transferring SmartDraw
drawings to other programs. The Windows Metafile format
(original 16-bit Windows metafile format) and the Enhanced
Metafile format (32-bit revision of the WMF format) are almost
universally shared among Windows programs and are a much
better choice. Metafiles are scaleable. They retain their sharpness
when they are scaled or printed. Bitmaps are very large and
memory intensive. They also do not scale well.
The number of dots used to represent each inch of an image is
called its resolution. The number of different colors that each dot
can represent is called its color depth. The higher the resolution
and color depth of a bitmap, the better it looks, but the more
memory and disk space it occupies.
When creating a bitmap, there is always a trade-off between
resolution and color depth, and memory requirements. SmartDraw
lets you control this trade-off when you export to a bitmapped file
format by displaying the Export Bitmap Dialog.

Export Bitmap Dialog
The Export Bitmap Dialog lets you specify the width and height
of the bitmap you are about to export, in dots, screen inches and
printer inches. It also lets you specify the number of colors that
each dot can represent (the color depth).
Your entire SmartDraw drawing is always scaled to fit the size of
the bitmap you choose. The size you choose should always be the
size you want it to be in the application that will use it, so that you
don’t have to scale the bitmap after it is exported. (Bitmaps scale
poorly.)
For example, if you are exporting your drawing to a GIF to use as
part of a web page, and you want the resulting image to be 400
dots (or pixels) across, then enter 400 in the first row of the Width
Column. The other width and height values will all change to
reflect this width. The height changes because the proportions of
your drawing are always maintained.
Selecting the Maximum Colors drop-down list selects the color
depth for your exported bitmap. Some bitmapped formats do not
allow all color depths. For example, GIF’s always have a color
depth of 256.
The memory required for your export is also shown in the dialog,
If this number exceeds 32,000 most systems will not be able to
export the bitmap. If you have trouble exporting large bitmaps, try
shutting down other programs to free up additional memory.

Exporting Images to Web Pages
SmartDraw exports directly to HTML format. Do this by selecting
HTML from the list of formats in the Export Dialog.
SmartDraw then displays the Export HTML Dialog.
The HTML Export Dialog
This is similar to the Bitmap Export Dialog, described on page

170, but with an extra panel for HTML options. Controls in the
panel allow you to choose either a GIF or JPG as the image file
format.
When SmartDraw exports to an HTML file it also includes a GIF
or a JPG file with the same name followed by _img. For example,
if you export to Flowchart.htm, a bitmapped file called
Flowchart_img.gif (or jpg) is also created. You must upload both
files to your web server in order to view the exported image in a
web browser.
When exporting to a GIF you can specify a background color that
will become transparent when viewed with most web browsers.
You can also choose whether the exported file should be in
interlaced or non-interlaced format. Interlaced images display more
quickly than non-interlaced, but take longer to come into focus.

These options are specified in the GIF Format Options Dialog.
This is displayed when GIF format is selected and you press the
Transparent button in the HTML export dialog.
GIF Format Options Dialog
Including Hyperlinks
SmartDraw allows you to attach hyperlinks to any shape in your
drawing. This is explained in more detail in Hyperlinking to Files
and Web Pages.
If your drawing contains these hyperlinks, you can check the
Include Hyperlinks checkbox when you export to HTML and
preserve them in the web page generated. If you select this option,
clicking on the shapes with hyperlinks in the web page will have
the same effect as clicking on the shapes in SmartDraw.
Using this feature of SmartDraw’s HTML export makes generating
HTML click-maps a breeze.
Hyperlinking to Files and Web Pages

One of the more powerful features of SmartDraw is its ability to
hyperlink any shape to another SmartDraw drawing file, a web
address (URL), another application’s document, or even a program
command line, using the Hyperlink commands under the Tools
menu.

To create a hyperlink, you first select an object in the drawing, and
then select the Create a Link command under the Hyperlink
submenu. This shows the Create a hyperlink dialog.
Hyperlink Dialog
Here you can choose to link another SmartDraw drawing, a web
address, a document, or a program to the currently selected object.
You enter the file name, the web URL, or the program command
line of the file that you want to link to. You can also use the
Browse button to search for a particular file. This presents the
standard Open dialog.
Once you select a file, or address, it is hyperlinked to the currently
selected object.
From this point on, if you select this object and use the Open Link
command (type the F11 Key as a short cut), the linked file, or web
address, will be opened. You can break this link by selecting the
object and using the Clear Link command.
You can only use the Open Link and Create a Link commands
when a single object is selected. You can use the Clear Link
command when more than one object is selected. The hyperlinks
will be cleared from all selected objects.
Shapes and lines that have hyperlinks are shown with a special
symbol that consists of a plus sign inside a small box.
The Hyperlink Symbol

Double clicking on this symbol opens the linked file or URL.

Using Hyperlinks
Nested Drawings
You can use hyperlinking to create hierarchical or “nested”
drawings that let you drill down to more detail.
For example, suppose you are creating a flowchart for a process
that includes one very complex step. On your summary (or high-
level) flowchart, you can represent the complex step by a single
shape and then hyperlink the shape to a detailed flowchart
illustrating the complex process. Later, if you double-click on the
hyperlinked symbol in the summary chart, the detailed chart
represented by the shape opens up.
Web Site Mapping

The ability to hyperlink a shape to a web page URL makes
SmartDraw a very useful tool for a drawing a flowchart that
documents a web site. Each page may be represented by a symbol
that is actually hyperlinked to the page itself.
When you export to HTML, you can preserve these links.
Notes and Background Information

You can attach a page or more of notes to any shape in a drawing
by hyperlinking it to a word-processing document. You can also
attach a help file or a web address. For example, in a network
diagram you can attach the web address of the manufacturer of the
piece of hardware represented by a symbol.

Using SmartDraw with Microsoft
Office
While SmartDraw can exchange drawings with most Windows
programs, it is designed to work especially closely with Microsoft
Office.
Transferring Drawings from

SmartDraw to Office.
Copy and Paste
The easiest way to transfer drawings you create in SmartDraw to
Microsoft Word (and the other Office programs) is to simply
copy all or part of the drawing in SmartDraw and then paste it into
Word.
OLE (Object Linking and Embedding)

Because Word is an OLE Client and SmartDraw is an OLE Server,
Word stores all of the SmartDraw drawing information in its
document when you paste, not just the picture you see. This is
called Embedding. A copy of your SmartDraw drawing is
embedded in the Word document.
If you double-click on the SmartDraw drawing in Word it will re-
open in SmartDraw and you can to edit it.
Another way of transferring a SmartDraw drawing to Word is to
paste an OLE Link using Word’s Paste Special command (page
179). If you choose to paste a link, using this dialog, the picture
you see is transferred to Word along with the name of the
SmartDraw file it came from.
If you double-click on the linked SmartDraw drawing in Word it
opens the original SmartDraw file allowing you to edit it, just as
with an embedded drawing. OLE Linking is useful if you want just
one copy of your drawing to be shared between several documents.
When you embed a drawing, changing the embedded copy does
not change any other copy. When you paste an OLE link, changing
the one linked drawing changes all the linked copies of that same
drawing.
176 • Using SmartDraw with Microsoft Office SmartDraw User's Guide

Drag and Drop
You can also drag selected parts of a drawing from SmartDraw
into Word and other office programs. Unless you hold down the
Ctrl key while you do this, the selection will be deleted from the
drawing after it is transferred to Word. This conforms to the
standard Windows interface for drag and drop between
applications.
Inserting a SmartDraw Object into

Word
You need not actually run SmartDraw at all in order to insert a
SmartDraw drawing into a Word document. Word has an Object
command on its Insert menu. You can use this command to insert
a SmartDraw drawing directly into your document. You can insert
a new drawing or an existing one. The details of this are described
on page 180 and in Word’s own documentation.
When you insert a new document, the last type you picked from
the New Drawing dialog is created by default.
Transferring Objects from Office to

SmartDraw
In addition to being an OLE server, the Professional edition of
SmartDraw is also an OLE Client, like Word, PowerPoint and
Excel.
This means that when you paste images from other programs that
are OLE servers into SmartDraw, they become embedded or linked
OLE objects that can be re-opened and edited by their parent
programs.
For example, if you paste a graph from Excel into a SmartDraw
drawing, both the image of the graph and the underlying Excel file
structure are stored in the embedded drawings. Double clicking on
the graph in SmartDraw opens it again in Excel, for editing.
The images you paste from Office behave just like library symbols
in SmartDraw. You can link lines to them, flip them, rotate them,
and resize them. They also have the very special property that you
can open them in Office, simply by double clicking on them in
SmartDraw, and modify them.
Perhaps most important of all, you can add OLE objects to
libraries, and they retain their OLE object nature. SmartDraw
Professional supports libraries not only of symbols, but also of live
SmartDraw User's Guide Using SmartDraw with Microsoft Office • 177

objects that can be opened in other applications! This is the basis
for the Office Companion.
Microsoft Office Companion

With SmartDraw Professional and Microsoft Office you can add
real graphs, bitmaps, equations, spreadsheets and all of the Office
clipart to your SmartDraw drawings with just one click.
If Microsoft Office is installed on your computer, SmartDraw
Professional shows a special set of toolbar buttons on the right end
of the top toolbar.
Office Companion Toolbar

If you click on one of these buttons you can add any of the
following objects your drawing.
• Bitmap (Paint)
• Graph (MS Graph)
• WordArt (MS WordArt)
• Clipart (Clipart Gallery)
• Equation (MS Equation)
• Spreadsheet (Excel)
• Word processing document (Word)
If any of these applications are not installed on your system, their
buttons do not appear.
When you click on the Bitmap button the Windows Paint
application is launched. The image your draw will appear in your
drawing when you close Paint. A similar thing occurs when you
press the Equation, Spreadsheet and Word Processor button.
Pressing the Clipart button shows the Office Clipart Gallery. By
using this button the thousands of images that are included with
Office become SmartDraw symbols too.
Pressing the Graph or WordArt buttons shows the Gallery
Dialog. Here you can choose from a collection of symbol libraries
containing pre-formatted Graphs or WordArt examples.

Object Gallery Dialog
Selecting a library from the list displays its preview on the right. If
you open one of these libraries, you can drag one of the sample
objects into your drawing and then open it by double clicking or
using the object menu commands (page 181).
Adding Objects with Paste and Paste

Special
In addition to using the Office Companion toolbar buttons, you can
also Paste an object from Office, or other OLE Server
applications, into the Professional Edition of SmartDraw. When
you do this, SmartDraw makes its own copy of the application file
and stores it in the drawing. This is called embedding.
When you paste using the Paste Special command you can choose
between several different ways of pasting. The command shows
the Paste Special Dialog.

Paste Special Dialog
The dialog shows a list of formats. When you select the first
format at the top of the list, depending on the program you copied
from, you may be offered the choice of Paste or Paste Link.
Pasting a Link pastes the picture plus the name of the file it came
from. Then, whenever you change the contents of this linked file,
SmartDraw will update the picture to the newest version.
Choosing the second item in the list (Picture) does not give you the
choice of Paste Link and normal pasting just transfers an image
into SmartDraw without the underlying data. If you paste just an
image and then change the original file you copied from, you’ll
need to paste it into SmartDraw again to get the revised image.
Inserting Objects
You can also add OLE objects to SmartDraw with the Insert
Object command under the Edit menu. This shows the Insert
Object Dialog.
Insert Object Dialog (Create New)

When the Create New radio button is selected, the list shows all of
the object types installed on your system. To create a new object
just select one of the items in the list and press OK.
When the Create from File button is selected the dialog changes
to the form shown below
Insert Object Dialog (Create from File)

This allows you to pick an existing file and create an embedded or
linked object from it.
Editing OLE Objects

When an OLE object is selected, the bottom item of the
SmartDraw Edit menu changes to a submenu showing the name of
the object.
You can use the commands on this menu to Open the object for
editing. You can also double-click on the object itself to open it for
editing.
Managing Links
When an OLE Linked object is selected, the Links command
under the Edit menu presents the Links Dialog. You can use this
to manage links in your document.

The Links Dialog
The list shows all of the linked OLE objects in your drawing. You
can change the parameters of the selected object in the list using
the buttons on the right.
Open Source opens the file associated with the link. Change
Source lets your fix a link that has been broken because the file
moved.
Update Now causes SmartDraw to get the current image from the
linked file. Break Link breaks the OLE link, making the object a
simple image object that no longer updates.

Text Tools
Spelling Correction
The Professional version of SmartDraw can check the spelling of
the text you enter while you are typing. If you misspell a word, it is
underlined with a wavy red line.
Misspelled words are underlined with red wavy lines.

Right clicking (clicking with the right mouse button) on the
misspelled word shows a menu with alternative spellings and other
commands.
Right-clicking on a misspelled word.

If you select one of the alternative spellings, the word is replaced
with this selection. The other commands:
• Ignore All. Ignores the word for this session.
• Add. Adds the word to your user dictionary, so that it is
considered correct in all future sessions.
• Auto Correct. Adds the word to your user dictionary along
with the misspelling, so that if you use that misspelling
again, SmartDraw will correct it for you automatically.
• Spelling. This shows the Check Spelling dialog.
SmartDraw User's Guide Text Tools • 183

To prevent SmartDraw from checking your spelling as you type,
turn off the Check Spelling While You Type command under the
Tools menu. You can use the same command to turn it back on
again. On slower computers, turning off spelling correction while
you type will speed up text editing.
The Check-Spelling Dialog

You can check the spelling of an entire document (or just the
selected text or shapes) interactively using the Check-Spelling
Dialog.
When you use this command to check spelling interactively, either
the selected range of text, or the selected object(s), are checked
first. You are then given the opportunity to continue correct
spelling in the rest of the document.
The Check-Spelling Dialog

The Check Spelling Dialog has the following controls
Add
This causes the reported word to be added to the dictionary
currently selected in the Add Words To list. Use the Add button if
a correctly spelled word you use often is reported as a misspelling
(e.g., your family name). If the word is not used frequently, you
may want to select the Ignore or Ignore All buttons instead.
Add Words To
This indicates which user dictionary words will be added to when
you select the Add button. The Add Words To list shows all user
dictionaries currently open. You can open or close other
dictionaries via the Dictionaries dialog, which is accessible by
selecting the Dictionaries button.
184 • Text Tools SmartDraw User's Guide

Cancel
Stops the current spell-checking operation.
Change
Causes the reported word to be replaced with the word in the
Change To box. Only this occurrence of the reported word is
replaced. If you want this and all following occurrences of the
word replaced, select the Change All button. If the Change To
box is empty, such as when a repeated word is reported, the
Change button changes to Delete.
Change All
Causes this and all following occurrences of the reported word to
be replaced with the word in the Change To box. If you want only
this occurrence of the word to be replaced, use the Change button.
If the reported word is one you frequently misspell, you might
consider adding it to a user dictionary via the Dictionaries dialog.
You can display the Dictionaries dialog by selecting the
Dictionaries button.
Change To
Contains a word that will replace a misspelled word when you
select the Change or Change All buttons. You can enter a word in
the Change To box by typing, or you can select one of the
suggested replacements from the Suggestions list.
Consider Changing
Contains a word that may be misspelled or otherwise incorrect, and
is presented with a candidate replacement word. You can change
the word by selecting the Change button, or skip it by selecting the
Ignore button. Note that the label of this box changes to “Not in
dictionary” when a misspelled word is detected.
Dictionaries
Causes the Dictionaries dialog to be displayed. You can use the
Dictionaries dialog to open or close user dictionaries, and to edit
the contents of user dictionaries.
Ignore
Causes this occurrence of a misspelled word to be skipped. If the
same misspelled word appears later, it will be reported.

Ignore All
Causes this and all further occurrences of this misspelled word to
be skipped. You might use this button if the word reported as a
misspelling is actually spelled correctly. If the word is one you use
frequently, you may wish add it to your dictionary by selecting the
Add button.
Lock Pos
Locks the position of the Check-Spelling dialog in place. Normally
the Check-Spelling dialog attempts to position itself to avoid the
window containing the text being checked. When the Lock check-
box is checked, the Check-Spelling dialog will always appear at
the last place you positioned it.
Not in dictionary
Indicates that a misspelled word was detected. The word is
considered misspelled because it could not be located in any open
dictionaries. Note that the label of this box changes to “Consider
changing” when a word and a suggested replacement are
displayed.
Options
Causes the Options dialog to be displayed. You can use the
Options dialog to set spelling-checker options.
Suggest
Search more thoroughly for suggested replacements for the current
misspelled word. Each time you press the Suggest button, a
"deeper" search is made. The Suggest button is disabled once all
possible suggestions have been located.
Suggestions
Contains a list of suggested replacements for the misspelled word
reported as misspelled. This list is filled in automatically when a
misspelled word is detected. Subsequent presses of the Suggest
button may yield more suggestions. A word selected in this list will
be automatically copied to the Change To box, where it can be
substituted for the misspelled word by pressing the Change button.
Undo button
Removes the last change made.

Selecting a Spelling Language
The Spelling Language submenu, under the Tools menu, lets you
switch languages with a single menu command. Each language
supported is shown on the submenu. The currently selected one is
shown with a check mark. The language selection applies to
SmartDraw as a whole, not just the document that you are working
on. SmartDraw supports the following languages.
• American English
• British English
• Brazilian Portuguese
• Danish
• Dutch
• Finnish
• French
• German
• Norwegian
• Italian
• Spanish
• Swedish
These dictionaries are available on the SmartDraw CD, or via
download from http://www.smartdraw.com/dictionaries.htm.
Dictionary Organization
The language dictionaries are stored in the Spelling folder inside
the SmartDraw program folder. Each language has its own folder
inside the Spelling folder. All users on a network share these
dictionaries.
The custom dictionaries that users edit are stored in a folder inside
their Windows folder called SmartDraw. Each user on a network
has his or her own custom dictionaries.
The Dictionary Dialog

Pressing the Dictionaries button in the Check-Spelling dialog, or
using the Spelling Dictionaries command under the Tools menu,
opens the Dictionary Dialog. This allows you to manage your own
custom dictionaries, where your own private words (like your
name, special acronyms, etc.) are stored.
The Dictionaries Dialog allows you to open and close user
dictionaries, and to edit the contents of an open user dictionary.
The contents of dictionaries are saved in disk files. You can open
some or all of your user dictionary files at any time. Only open
dictionaries are consulted during a spell-checking operation.

The Dictionaries Dialog
The Dictionary Dialog has the following controls:
Words
This contains the list of words in the currently selected user
dictionary, as well as the currently selected word.
Other Word
This contains an alternate word associated with the currently
selected word. The other word is used in the Auto change and
Conditionally change actions to supply a replacement word. You
can enter more than one word in the Other Word box, but the total
length should be limited to 63 characters.
Action
The action tells the spelling checker what to do when it finds a
word in the dictionary. The following actions can be selected:
Auto change (use case of checked word)
This action allows you to automatically replace one word with
another. For example, if you often type recieve instead of receive,
you might enter the word recieve with receive as the other word
and Auto change (use case of checked word) as the action. The
spelling checker will then automatically correct recieve wherever it
appears. If recieve were capitalized (Recieve) the spelling checker
would automatically replace it with Receive. Note that the
replacement is made automatically only if the Auto Change option
is enabled (see the Spelling Options Dialog for information on the
Auto Change option).

Auto change (use case of other word)
This action allows you to automatically replace one word with
another, without considering the case of the replaced word. This
action is useful for automatically expanding abbreviations. For
example, you could enter the word TBD with to be determined as
the other word and Auto change (use case of other word) as the
action. The spelling checker will automatically replace TBD with
to be determined wherever it appears.
Conditionally change (use case of checked word)
This action is the same as Auto change (use case of checked
word) above, except that the replacement is only suggested by the
Check-Spelling dialog. It does not happen automatically.
Conditionally change (use case of other word)
This too is like Auto change (use case of other word) but is only
suggested by the Check-Spelling dialog.
Exclude (treat as misspelled)
This action tells the spelling checker that the word is misspelled,
even if it is listed in another dictionary. Words marked with this
action will never be offered as suggestions for misspelled words,
and they will be reported as misspellings when they are
encountered by the spelling checker. Note that the spelling checker
looks up words in user dictionaries in the order in which the
dictionary files appear in the Files list. If you want to exclude a
word, make sure it doesn't appear in a previous user dictionary.
Ignore (skip)
This action tells the spelling checker that the word is spelled
correctly, and can be skipped over. This is the most common
action.
Add Word
This causes the word entered in the edit area of the Words list to
be added to the currently selected dictionary. The currently
selected action and other word are associated with the word. You
can use the Add Word button to change the action or other word
associated with a word. Note that the Add Word button is enabled
only when a new word is typed in the edit area of the Words list.
The words you add may contain virtually any character, but only
words which contain embedded periods should have trailing
periods (e.g., U.S.A. is OK, but USA. is not).
Delete Word
This causes the word appearing in the edit area of the Words list to
be removed from the currently selected dictionary. The associated
action and other word are also removed.

Files
This contains the list of open dictionary files. When you select a
dictionary file from the list, its contents are displayed in the Words
list.
Add File
This opens a user dictionary file. When you select the Add File
button, a dialog appears which you can use to select the dictionary
file to open. The set of open dictionary files is remembered, so
once you add a dictionary file you don't need to add it again. If you
need to create a new user dictionary, use the New button. You can
open other applications' user dictionary files, including those of
Microsoft Office.
Your Office user dictionary is usually called custom.dic. Search
for this file and add it to the file list and you can share a common
list of your personal words with SmartDraw.
Remove File
This closes the currently selected dictionary file. Closed
dictionaries are not checked during a spelling check. Although the
file is closed, it is not deleted. Closed dictionary files can be later
reopened using the Add File button.
New
This creates a new user dictionary file. When you select the New
button, a dialog appears which you can use to specify attributes of
the new dictionary.
Export
This saves the contents of the currently selected dictionary to a text
file. When you select the Export button, a dialog appears which
you can use to select the name of the text file to which words in the
dictionary will be exported. The words are written to the file one
per line.
Import
This adds the words contained within a text file to the currently
selected dictionary. When you select the Import button, a dialog
appears which you can use to select the text file to be imported.
Each word in the selected file is loaded into the dictionary.
Language
This displays the language (e.g., English, or French, etc.) of the
words in the currently selected dictionary.

Spelling Options
The Spelling Options command opens the Spelling Options
Dialog. This lets you specify several options that affect the way the
spelling checker operates.
Spelling Options Dialog
Ignore Capitalized Words

When enabled, any words beginning with a capital letter are
ignored (i.e., are skipped over without being checked). You might
enable this option if the text being checked contains many proper
names.
Ignore All-Caps Words

When enabled, any words consisting entirely of capital letters are
ignored. You might enable this option if the text being checked
contains many acronyms.
Ignore Words with Numbers

When enabled, any words containing embedded digits are ignored.
Examples of such words include Win95 and Q4.

Ignore Words with Mixed Case
When enabled, any words containing an unusual mixture of upper-
and lower-case letters are ignored. Examples of such words include
SmartDraw and CapsLock.
Report Doubled Words

When enabled, any word appearing twice in a row is reported via
the Check Spelling Dialog.
Case Sensitive
When enabled, a distinction is made between capitalized and non-
capitalized words. For example, canada is considered different
from Canada, so canada would be reported as a misspelling.
When the option is disabled, canada and Canada are considered
identical. Note that the performance of the spelling checker will be
reduced if this option is disabled.
Phonetic Suggestions
When enabled, suggestions are made on the basis of phonetic
(sounds-like) similarity to the misspelled word. This option tends
to improve suggestions for badly misspelled words. Enabling this
option will increase the time required to locate suggestions. Note
that either this option or the Typographical Suggestions option
must be enabled or no suggestions will be offered.
Typographical Suggestions
When enabled, suggestions are made on the basis of typographical
(looks-like) similarity to the misspelled word. This option is
appropriate for people who are generally good spellers. Note that
either this option or the Phonetic Suggestions option must be
enabled or no suggestions will be offered.
Suggest Split Word

When enabled, two separate words will be suggested as a
replacement for a misspelling containing two joined words. For
example, is the would be suggested as a replacement for isthe.
Auto Correct
When enabled, words marked with Auto Change actions will
automatically be changed to their specified replacements. When
disabled, you will be prompted before the words are changed.

Suggestions
Determines the speed and accuracy of the initial search for
suggested replacements for misspelled words. When a misspelled
word is detected, a search is automatically made for suggestions.
This option controls the speed and accuracy of this automatic
search. Pressing the Suggest button in the Check-Spelling dialog
causes an increasingly more accurate (but slower) search for
suggestions, with each successive click.
Find and Replace

Using the Professional version of SmartDraw, you can find and
replace any word in your drawing.
The Find command, under the Edit menu, shows the Find and
Replace Dialog.
Find and Replace Dialog
You can enter any target string into this dialog. If you press the
Find Next button, SmartDraw will search for a match. Once a
match is found, it is highlighted and scrolled into view. Pressing
Find Next again, finds the next occurrence.
Initially only the selected range is searched. This is either the
selected range of text within a shape, or the selected shape(s) or
table. Once all selected instances of the target word have been
examined, you are then given an opportunity to search the
remainder of the drawing.
Normally SmartDraw searches for the target string without regard
to upper or lower case, and it will report matches that are not
whole words. For example, if you search for mary it will find
Maryanne. You can change this behavior by checking the
checkboxes in the dialog.
Match case causes SmartDraw to find matches only when the case
of the characters in the drawing also match the target.
Match whole word only causes SmartDraw to ignore matches
when the target appears as part of another word.

Replacing Words
If you click on the Replace button in the Find and Replace Dialog,
or select the Replace command under the Edit Menu, the dialog
opens out to its expanded form.
Expanded Find and Replace Dialog

If the target string is highlighted in a shape, pressing the Replace
button will replace the target with the replacement string and then
go on to find the next match. Pressing Replace again replaces the
next match and so on.
You can replace all instances (initially in your selected range and
then in the entire document) automatically by pressing the Replace
All button.
“Find Next” Menu Command

After you close the dialog, your target and replacement strings
(and checkbox settings) are remembered (even between sessions).
You can find the next instance of the current target string at any
time without showing the Find and Replace Dialog, by using the
Find Next command under the Edit Menu.
The shortcut to the Find Next command is the F3 key. Holding the
Shift key down and typing F3 finds the previous match. The search
order is the same as the tabbing order in the drawing (See page
161).

Customizing SmartDraw
New Drawing Buttons

The buttons shown on the New Drawing Dialog (page 18) are
actually read from the SmartDraw program folder at run time. This
means that you can add your own drawing types and templates,
and create your own custom buttons for them.
Each drawing type that shows as a button in the New Drawing
Dialog represents a folder inside the Templates folder, which is
inside the SmartDraw program folder. For example, the
Flowcharts drawing type has a folder Templates/Business &
Charting/Flowcharts.
A drawing type folder must contain the following files to show up
as a button on the New Drawing dialog:
• An icon.bmp file
• At least one template file
The icon.bmp file is a 60x60 bitmapped image in BMP format
that will show up as the picture on the button for the new category.
If you don’t put this file into your folder, it will not show up as a
button.
If you want part of your icon to be the color of the button, use the
gray (0x0c0c0c) as a transparent color.
The position of a button in the dialog is controlled by the presence
of a file whose name has the format nnn.ord, where nnn is a
weighting (or ranking) number. For example, 500.ord will give
your new drawing type a weight of 500 when SmartDraw sorts the
buttons in the dialog from the top left. Changing the number in
front of the ord extension lets you choose the position of the
button in the dialog. This applies to existing drawing types too!
There must be at least one SmartDraw template in the folder. If
your template is called EMPTY.SDT it will be opened when you
press Create Blank Drawing at the New Drawing dialog. It is the
“default” template for this drawing type.
If you have no other templates in the folder, then the View
Templates button in the dialog will be gray and unavailable. If you
SmartDraw User's Guide Customizing SmartDraw • 195

have other templates but no EMPTY.SDT then the Create Blank
Drawing button will be unavailable and you will be forced to
select a template.
Creating SmartDraw Templates

Creating your own SmartDraw Template files is very
straightforward. A template file is exactly the same as a regular
SmartDraw drawing, but it has been saved using the Save As
Template command in the File menu .
Using this command displays the Save As Template Dialog.
The Save As Template Dialog

Enter a name for the template in the Name field.
Select a category for the template using the Select button. This
displays the Browse for Folder dialog, displaying the current tree
of template categories. Simply select the one you want.
196 • Customizing SmartDraw SmartDraw User's Guide

The Browse for Folder Dialog
You can also add your own categories by pressing the Create a
New Category button. This displays the Create a New Category
Dialog
The Create a New Category Dialog

You can create a sub-category inside the category you already have
selected, or create a new top level category that is not inside any
other by selecting the appropriate button.
You must enter a name for the new category before you can press
the OK button.
The Save as Template Dialog also allows you to enter words that
you want to associate with the template when searching by
keyword using the Search Bar. Enter as many as you like
separated by commas.

Once you have selected a category and a name, pressing OK from
the Create dialog saves your drawing as a new template, and, if
appropriate, creates the new category. This is reflected
immediately in the SmartDraw Explorer panel.
Designing Templates
Templates are used both to store a desired set of default settings for
new documents and to store a sample drawing.
These are some of the defaults that are saved with a template:
• Snap-to-grid alignment
• Line and Shape linking settings
• Document toolbar
• Colors and shadows
• Line and border thickness
• Font
• Rulers and their scale
• Page orientation and size
• Zoom level
The first two of these are perhaps the most important because they
have a large impact and have very different settings for different
kinds of drawing.
Snap to Center vs. Snap to Top-Left

Shapes can either snap to the grid so that their centers align with
the grid lines, or so that their top and left edges snap to the grid
lines..
If your template is to be used to create drawings that make use of
the linking of lines to shapes, such as flowcharts, organization
charts, circuit diagrams, network diagrams and engineering
diagrams, then you should choose Snap to Center. This parameter
is set in the Define Rulers and Grid Dialog (page 153).
If, on the other hand, your template will be used to make drawings
where shapes are placed at exact locations so that their edges line
up, you should choose Snap to Top-Left. Examples of diagrams
of this kind include floor plans, forms, timelines etc.
Line and Shape Linking

Also stored with the Template are the settings of Allow Lines to
Link, Allow Lines to Link to Shapes, and Allow Shapes to Link
under the Arrange Menu.

For diagrams in which lines are typically linked to shapes (like
flowcharts) line linking should be turned on and shape linking
turned off.
For diagrams that require alignment of shapes, like floor plans,
both should be off.
For diagrams that rely on the linking of shapes to lines, like circuit
diagrams, Allow Lines to Link to Shapes should be turned on.
There are some drawing types that make use of shape linking.
These include "block flow" diagrams and chemical formulae. Both
of these types use shape linking to align and connect library
symbols.
Document Toolbar
If a Document Toolbar is attached to your drawing when you
save it as a template, it is stored as part of the template definition.
It will reopen as part of the new drawing created with that
template. You can use this to automatically open the most useful
symbol library for your drawing type as a document toolbar.
Fonts and other Settings

The choices for default fonts, colors etc., are mainly a matter of
taste.
You set these defaults by applying them to a shape and a line in the
drawing you are using to design your template. The changes you
make to the shape and line also set the default settings for new
objects. Before you save the template, you can delete the sample
shape and line you used to set the defaults and the defaults will still
remain in force.
As an example, to change the default font for a template first add a
shape and type "hello" inside it. Select the shape so that it shows
selection handles. Use the Font command under the Text menu to
change the font, size and style of the text in the shape.
Now delete the shape by typing the backspace key (while it is still
selected). This drawing, saved as a template, will re-open with the
default font, size and style set to the values you selected in the Font
dialog.
Settings for Empty Drawings

If you want to change the default font or color scheme for the new
drawings you create using Create New Document dialog, simply
replace the EMPTY.SDT template in the drawing type folder
(page 195) with one that has your desired defaults already set.

IMPORTANT: Make sure that the template you replace
EMPTY.SDT with was created from the same drawing-type.
Adding an Advisor
You can also add your own advisor to a template (or library, see
page 145). An advisor is just an image exported from SmartDraw.
You can export any drawing you create to an advisor file using the
Export command (page 169). Just select SmartDraw Advisor
(SDV) from the list of formats. Make sure that you export the SDV
file into the ADVISOR folder within the SmartDraw Program
folder, otherwise you will not be able to assign it to a document.
You can link an Advisor to a web page to provide more

information on the Advisor topic. After saving the SDV file in the
Advisor folder, the Assign an Advisor URL Dialog will appear.
Assign an Advisor URL Dialog
If you do not wish to link a web page to the Advisor, leave the
field blank and click OK.
You can mix text and graphics in your advisor image, but for best
results give the advisor a colored or opaque white background and
make three inches or less wide.
Once you have exported your advisor file, you can assign it to a
document by selecting the Show Advisor command under the
Help menu. If no advisor is currently assigned to the document,
you are asked if you want to assign one. Clicking yes displays the
Assign Advisor Dialog.

Assign Advisor Dialog
You can also change the advisor assignment for a document by

holding the Ctrl Key down as you select the Show Advisor menu
item.
Type the name of the advisor stored in the ADVISOR folder
(without its file extension) that you wish to assign to this document
and press OK. If you save the document, or save the document as a
template, the assignment will be remembered and the advisor will
open automatically each time you re-open the document.
If this does not happen, make sure that you uncheck the Advisor
box in the Options dialog (page 201).
Skipping the New Drawing Dialog

You can change a setting in the Options Dialog to skip showing
the New Drawing dialog each time you want to create a new
drawing, and instead automatically open a copy of the template
SMRTDRAW.SDT.
To use this feature, create a drawing with defaults that you want
for all new drawings. Delete any objects and save it as a template,
in the same directory as the SmartDraw program, with the name
SMRTDRAW.SDT.
Next, use the Options command under the Tools menu and click
on the Copy the SMRTDRAW.SDT template radio button.
Now each time you create a new drawing the New Drawing dialog
will not be shown. Instead a drawing with the characteristics of the
SMRTDRAW.SDT file that you saved will be opened
automatically.
The Options Dialog

The Options command under the Tools menu shows the
SmartDraw Options Dialog.

The SmartDraw Options Dialog
This controls the way the program behaves when starting up, when
a new drawing is created and other options.
Start Up
When SmartDraw first starts up it can either show the Welcome
dialog, create a new empty drawing, or show the Open dialog,
depending on which radio button is selected.
New Drawing
When you create a new drawing with the New command, (or by
simply starting SmartDraw), SmartDraw can either (a) present the
New Drawing dialog, (b) automatically create a blank drawing
with the flowchart defaults, or (c) look for the template file
SMRTDRAW.SDT and attempt to open it as a new untitled
drawing.
You can save your own version of SMRTDRAW.SDT to control
the default colors, styles and other drawing parameters for your
newly created drawings (page 201).
Page Lines
At magnifications of 50% or below, the boundaries of the currently
chosen page size are shown as dotted lines. Selecting the All
Magnifications radio button causes these lines to be displayed in
all magnifications.

Quick Previews
For large drawings that have lots of complex symbols previewing
in the Fit to Window view can sometimes be time consuming. In
these cases, you can increase redraw speed by choosing to draw
only a rectangular frame instead of the whole image in this view,
either always, or only when a symbol is small.
Hints
SmartDraw will display hints for beginning users if this box is
checked. These are dialogs that pop-up automatically when you try
to use certain features of the program for the first time. They
attempt to explain what you are about to do and provide a direct
route to more detailed help.
Each hint will only appear once in each SmartDraw session. Hints
can be switched off from any Hint dialog. We recommend that you
leave the Hints switched on the first few times you use the
program.
SmartDraw Advisor
The SmartDraw Advisor window opens automatically when
certain templates and libraries are opened. The Advisor is a special
help screen with tips for using that particular file.
You can prevent any Advisor window from opening automatically
by checking Do Not Open Advisors Automatically in the dialog.
You can also do this for each individual advisor by closing that
particular Advisor window with a mouse click (page 17).
Unchecking the box allows all Advisors to open automatically
again.
Changing the Program Toolbar

The buttons on the Toolbar that show shapes can be changed to
show any of the 24 standard shapes. You can do this either by
double-clicking on the shape button that you wish to change, or by
clicking on it once and then selecting the Toolbar command under
the Tools menu. Both of these actions present the Edit Toolbar
Location Dialog.

Edit Toolbar Location Dialog
This dialog can also be used to set the default size of the shape
when it is added to the drawing using a drag and drop operation, as
well as setting the "shape" parameter itself.
Select Shape
A button shows the shape currently selected for this toolbar
location. Pressing the button presents a menu of standard shapes.
Selecting one changes the assignment of the button to the selected
shape.
Preferred Size
The width and height fields control the size of this shape when a
copy is added to the drawing using a drag and drop operation. For
circles, and other shapes that can only be sized proportionately,
changing one value changes the other, so as to maintain the same
proportions.
Adjustment
The shape adjustment applies only to certain shapes and adjusts
their outline. For example, the degree of roundness for rounded
rectangles, the proportion of angled arrows, and so on.
The Adjustment field is only visible if the shape selected for the
button may be distorted in some way. The parameter value
represents a proportion of the width or height of the shape and is
usually limited to a range of 0.1 to 0.4, or sometimes less. The

effect of the change can be seen in the preview window if you
click on it or click in another field.
Changing these parameters has no effect on any existing shapes in

your drawing. They affect only new shapes that you add later. The
outlines of existing shapes can be adjusted by clicking on their
adjustment handles, as described in Adjusting Shape Outlines on
page 78.
Changing the shape assigned to the button will change the
parameter to its default value for that shape.
Defining Your Own Menu Colors

The SmartDraw color menu shows a choice for More Colors. If
you choose this, you see the Color Dialog. This lets you pick from
any of the 16 million colors Windows offers.
The Color Dialog

To define a custom color, first move the slider control up and
down to achieve the amount of black and white you want in the
color. Next, click in the color window to choose the hue of the
color you want. You choice shows in the Color/Solid box.
You can also enter an explicit RGB or HSL value for the color in
the fields that show these values.
Once you have chosen the color you want, press OK to apply it to
your drawing.
You can also use this dialog to customize the SmartDraw color
menu. Once you have chosen the color using the color controls,

pressing the Update Color Menu button will update the currently
selected square on the color menu with the color in the color box.
This new color will show in this square in all the color menus from
now on. You can click on any square in the color menu before you
press the Update button, to select the square whose color you want
to replace.
Double clicking on a menu square copies its color to the color box.
Pressing the Revert Menu to Default button changes all the
menus back to their default settings.

SmartDraw Licenses
SmartDraw Licenses
SmartDraw will not run without a license. The license is created
when the program is installed with a valid serial number. You can
inspect the licenses installed on your system by selecting the
Licenses command under the Help menu.
Licenses Dialog
This displays the Licenses dialog. It displays a list of all licenses
installed on your system.
Workgroup Licenses
The standard SmartDraw workgroup license allows ten or more
computers to access SmartDraw on a network. For example, a 10-
Seat license permits 10 different computers, (other than the server
itself) to access the program.
SmartDraw keeps track of the identity of each computer that runs
the program, and will not permit access to more than is specified
by the license.
The list of computers that have used the networked installation is
maintained on the server and can be inspected and edited by
selecting the Licenses command, under the Help menu, to display
the Network Administration Dialog.
SmartDraw User's Guide SmartDraw Licenses • 207

The Network Administration Dialog
The number of seats supported by all network licenses installed is
shown at the top of the dialog, along with the number of users
(computers) that have run this installation.
The SmartDraw installation tracks the number of computers that
have accessed it using the serial number of their hard disk.
If a user has run SmartDraw accidentally or no longer needs
access, you can disable their account by clicking on the user and
selecting the Disabled radio button. This frees a license for use by
another computer. The counts of enabled and disabled users are
updated immediately to reflect this. You can also use this
technique to disable old hard disk serial numbers when computers
are replaced or upgraded with new drives.
As a security measure, these changes can only be made if you log-
on to the server itself.
Adding Additional Network Licenses

If you find that you want to add licenses to an existing networked
installation, you can purchase more and add them to the number
available. You can do this online at smartdraw.com, or by
contacting SmartDraw sales at 858 549 0314.
208 • SmartDraw Licenses SmartDraw User's Guide

When you purchase an additional license, running the installation
on the network server adds the new licenses and increases the total
available. For example, if you purchase two 10-seat licenses and
install each in the same program folder, the single shared copy of
SmartDraw will permit 20 seats.
SmartDraw Collections
SmartDraw offers more than 30,000 symbols, templates and
examples included in the nine, add-on SmartDraw Collections.
To use these fully, you must buy a license to each collection, or
buy SmartDraw Professional Plus (which includes a license to all
of the collections).
Without a license, each symbol appears with an unlicensed stamp
superimposed upon it.
Unlicensed Symbol
Once a valid license is installed, the stamp no longer appears, even

in drawings already completed.
The serial number entered during installation controls which
licenses are installed on your system.
SmartDraw User's Guide SmartDraw Licenses • 209

Appendix A Technical Support
SmartDraw.com provides technical support under the following
terms and conditions:
Registered Users
Up to 30 minutes of support is provided at no charge for the first
90 days following purchase. Please have your serial number ready.
This is shown clearly on your CD or download page.
After 90 days you may call with a credit card and obtain support at
the rate of $7.50 per 5 minutes. There is no charge for time spent
on hold and no charge if the problem is identified as a "bug" in
SmartDraw. Whether the problem qualifies as a bug is at the sole
discretion of SmartDraw.com
If a user reports a bug that prevents proper use of the program
during the first 90 days following registration, SmartDraw.com
will either fix the bug, or offer a complete refund.
Suggestions
We invite suggestions. There is never any charge for suggestions.
Please contact us.
Using the Web

Please visit our Web site at:
http://www.smartdraw.com
Here you will find news of the latest releases, patches, tips and
useful information. If your web browser is installed in the right
(Microsoft) way, you can connect to our web site by simply
selecting the Browse SmartDraw Web Page command, under the
Help menu.
Downloading the Latest Version

We frequently offer free updates that include bug fixes and new
features. To download these simply use the Get Latest Version
command, under the Help menu. Or visit
http://www.smartdraw.com/techsup.htm
210 • Appendix A Technical Support SmartDraw User's Guide

Getting Support
The best way to do this is via electronic mail. There is currently no
charge for email support. Our email address is:
support@smartdraw.com
You can also call us at (858) 549 0314.
When reporting a problem, please include the following
information:
1) Your system configuration (version of Windows, printer,
display type etc.)
2) A description of how to reproduce the problem.
3) A sample file that exhibits the problem (if possible).
Troubleshooting
To get instant information about the most common user problems,
use the Get Latest Version command, under the Help menu to
connect to our technical support web pages or visit
http://www.smartdraw.com/techsup.htm
Below we address some of the more common problems:
Windows Errors or Crashes

If SmartDraw crashes (stops working) when you attempt to create
a new drawing, or open an existing one, the most common cause is
the printer setting.
When SmartDraw does either of these things it loads the current
printer’s driver to determine the size of the printable area of the
current page setting.
If your printer’s block of default parameters is corrupted or the
driver is not correctly installed, this can cause the system to crash.
To test whether this is the cause of your problem, go the Windows
control panel and change the default printer setting to some other
printer. Now try SmartDraw again. If the problem goes away you
know that the original default printer’s driver causes it.
To correct the problem, try re-installing the driver using the
Windows printer control panel.
If this does not appear to be the problem, please contact us at
support@smartdraw.com and email us a copy of the file that
causes the SmartDraw to crash upon opening.
SmartDraw User's Guide Appendix A Technical Support • 211

Crashing when building the SmartDraw Explorer Tree
You refresh the SmartDraw Explorer tree control by closing and
opening the very top folder, or by right clicking on the top folder
and choosing the Refresh Symbols and Examples command from
the right-click menu.
If this causes your system to crash it is most likely caused by an
incorrect version of the Windows system file (DLL) that manages
the tree control. You can fix this by installing Internet Explorer 5.0
(or above). This updates these DLL’s with a consistent set. You
can obtain Internet Explorer from Microsoft’s web site at the
following URL:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/
Drawing Problems. The Graphics Acceleration Setting.

Some graphics controller boards use some hardware optimizations
in attempt to speed up common graphics operations. Leaving these
features turned on can cause graphic-intensive applications like
SmartDraw to fail.
Two common symptoms of this problem are small dots that are left
behind on the screen when you move and object, and the wrong
colors appearing inside shapes when you paste an image into
another program.
To correct these and similar problems, turn these optimizations off.
To do this, go the Windows Control Panel and open the System
icon. Go to the Performance tab and press the Graphics button.
Move the slider control all the way to the left, to turn off graphics
acceleration. Now press OK and restart your application.
Trial Version Runs Instead of Purchased Version

If, after you have installed your purchased SmartDraw program, it
still says Trial Version, when you run it then you are in fact still
running your old Trial Version (which is still on your computer)
instead of the new purchased version that you installed.
You probably have a "shortcut" to the Trial Version, either on your
desktop or in your Start Menu. You need to stop using this
shortcut (you can also delete it if you like). Instead use the new
shortcuts (on your desktop and start menu) that the purchased
version of SmartDraw created during its installation. If
SmartDraw failed to create these new shortcuts for some reason,
you can create your own.
First start Windows Explorer and locate the file named
smartdraw.exe in the directory where you installed SmartDraw on
your hard disk. Right-click on the file with your mouse, and
212 • Appendix A Technical Support SmartDraw User's Guide

choose "create shortcut" from the menu. A shortcut will be created
in that directory. Simply drag the shortcut onto your desktop, and
it will become an icon that you can click on to run SmartDraw.
Colors Do Not Print

If your drawing has colored shapes and lines but they do not print
in color (even though you have a color printer) make sure that the
Print No Color box in the Print dialog is unchecked. If this is not
the problem, check the Properties in the print dialog to make sure
that your printer is set up to print color.
SmartDraw User's Guide • 213

Index
Add New Symbol, 140 Center Drawing on Page, 58, 117
Add New Table, 100 Change Connector Shape, 56, 64, 125
Add To Favorites, 70 Change Line Shape, 54, 55, 64
Adding Automatic Connectors, 125 Changing shape, 77
Adding notes to shapes, 175 Check Spelling, 184
Adding objects to drawings, 52, 132 Check Spelling While You Type, 184
Adding symbols to a library, 139 Circuit diagrams, 122
Adjusting shape outlines, 78, 204 Clear, 64, 111
Advisors, 17, 147, 200, 203 Clear Link, 174
Align, 57, 58, 115 Clipboard, 163
Align Shapes and Text on the Line, 93, 122 Close, 20
Alignment, 91, 93, 97 Close All, 20
Allow Lines to Link, 121, 198 Collections, 8
Allow Shapes to Link, 121, 198 Collections, Licenses, 74, 209
Allow Shapes to Link to Lines, 198 Color Menus, defining your own, 205
Arcs, 54 Colors, 41, 76, 79, 83, 99, 105, 129, 138, 164, 205
Arranging shapes, 125 Colors and Shadows, 50, 83
Arrow button, 23, 57 Column widths, 106, 107
Arrow keys, 58, 59 Communications link, 54
Arrowheads, 79, 129 Connecting lines and shapes, 119
Arrowheads, creating your own, 81 Connecting many lines to one shape, 120
AutoCAD, 165, 169 Connection Points, 120, 137
AutoFill, 112 Connectors, 23, 55
Automatic Connectors, 23, 41, 55, 64, 124 Control key, 53, 59
Automatic Connectors, combining, 126 Convert To Table, 101
Automatic Connectors, removing stubs, 128 Convert To Text, 101
Automatic Connectors, spacing, 127 Converting files created in other programs, 167
Automatic dimension lines, 94 Coordinates, entering, 61
Automatic text resizing, 89, 91, 104 Copy, 111, 140, 163, 176
Background Color, 83 Create a Link, 174
Background text object, 92 Create New Library, 140
Bitmaps, 178 Creating a drawing, 33
Bitmaps, colors, 170 Credits, 145
Bitmaps, memory required, 171 Curved lines, 54, 55
Bitmaps, resolution, 170 Custom View, 152
Border Color, 77 Customize Arrowhead Dialog, 82
Border Style, 77 Cut, 111, 163
Borders, 76 Dashed lines, 79
Breaking a link, 120 Dates, 112
Bring to Front, 117, 161 Decomposing into SmartDraw shapes, 165, 169
Browse SmartDraw Web Page, 210 Defaults, 29, 199
Bullets, 99 Define Colors and Shadows Dialog, 86
Cascade Windows, 22 Define Library Credits, 145
Cause and Effect diagrams, 124 Define Rulers and Grid, 24, 44, 153
CD Dialog, 73 Delete Cells, 111
Cell Background Color, 105 Deleting objects, 64
Cell Background Shading, 105 Deleting text, 98
214 • Index SmartDraw User's Guide

Digital link, 54 Grid, 25, 115, 153, 160, 198
Dimensioning, 94, 153 Grid Line Color, 105
Dimensions, entering, 61 Grid Line Style, 105
Do Not Allow Text Editing, 104, 162 Group, 45, 149
Docking, 133 Growing objects, 59, 108
Document toolbar, 24, 133, 199 Guides, 25
Dotted lines, 28, 79, 151 Hard space, 99
Download Dialog, 72 Help, 15
Downloading SmartDraw, 13 Help button, 16
Drag and Drop, 21, 34, 52, 134, 139, 140, 177 Hide Shadow, 85
Drawing area, 151 Hints, 15, 203
Drawing shapes and lines, 23, 34, 52, 132 HTML, 172
Drawing size, 152 Hyperlink to Another File, 173
Drawing styles, 83 Hyperlinks, 173, 175
Drawing to scale, 47, 133, 145 Hyperlinks in web pages, 173
Drawing types, creating your own, 195 Images, 164, 165
Drawings, more than one in the same file., 29 Import, 164
Drawings, nested, 175 Insert Cells, 109
Duplicate, 64 Insert Object, 180
Edit Shape Outline, 78, 148 Insert Symbol, 98
Edit Symbol, 123, 135 Inserting a SmartDraw object into Word, 177
Editing OLE objects, 181 Inserting an Office object into SmartDraw, 177
e-mail, 21, 51, 211 Install Dialog, 72
Equations, 178 Installing SmartDraw, 12
Exit, 30 Join Cells, 108
Export, 169 Join to Make a New Shape, 78, 148
Export Bitmap Dialog, 170 Keywords, 139
Exporting to bitmapped files, 170 Landscape vs. Portrait, 28, 156
Exporting to HTML, 172 Large Buttons with Names, 132
Exporting to web pages, 172 Large drawings, 151
Favorites, 70 Libraries, 25, 131, 179
File Conversion Wizard, 167 Libraries menu, 131, 135
File types, 164, 169 Libraries, creating your own, 140, 142
Fill Color, 76, 138 Libraries, credits, 145
Find, 193 Libraries, Finding, 67, 68
Find and Replace Dialog, 193 Libraries, Opening, 70
Find Next, 194 Libraries, ordering symbols, 140
Find Previous, 194 Libraries, using as a scrapbook, 139
Find Symbols Dialog, 139 Library Builder Wizard, 142
Fit to Page, 152 Library button size, 132
Fit to Window, 152, 203 Library categories, adding your own, 141
Flip, 55, 56, 64, 125 License, network, 14
Flipping objects, 64 Licenses, 207
Floor plans, 198 Licenses, collections, 72, 74
Flowchart symbols, 30 Line button, 23
FlowCharter, 167 Line Color, 79
Flowcharts, 119, 124, 129, 198 Line shape, 54
Font, 95 Line Style, 79
Font Dialog, 95 Lines, 23, 38, 64, 79
Font, changing default, 29, 199 Lines, arcs, 54
Footers, 160 Lines, attaching text, 93
Format Table, 102, 111 Lines, connecting, 119
Forms, 92, 114, 162 Lines, curved, 54, 55
Get Latest Version, 210, 211 Lines, drawing, 34
GIF Format Options, 173 Lines, kinked, 120
Graphs, 178 Lines, linking, 35
SmartDraw User's Guide Index • 215

Lines, segmented, 23, 54 Postscript, 165, 169
Lines, showing dimensions, 94 Preview Files, 71
Linking lines to each other, 123 Print, 154, 158
Linking lines to shapes, 119 Print Preview, 157
Linking shapes to each other, 123 Printer, 156
Linking shapes to lines, 121 Printing in color, 159
Linking, turning off, 121, 198 Printing large drawings, 157
Links, 121, 181 Printing on large format printers, 152
Links, breaking, 120 Printing on one page, 117, 155, 159
Lock Object, 118 Printing the Grid, 25, 160
Make Same Size, 57, 60, 116 Remove Symbol, 133
Margins, 28 Remove Unlicensed Symbols, 75
Measurement, 25, 153 Replace, 193, 194
Microsoft Office, 176, 177, 178 Right mouse button menus, 22, 183
Microsoft Office Companion, 178 Right Mouse Menus, 70
Microsoft Word, 176, 177 Rotate, 62
Microsoft Word spelling dictionary, 190 Rotating and Snaps, 62
Mirror image, 64 Rotating multiple objects by the same angle, 63
More Colors, 205 Rotating objects, 62
Moving objects, 58, 116, 117, 118 Rotating, using menu commands, 62
Moving with keys, 58 Rotation, aligning objects, 63
Multiple selection button, 23, 37, 57 Row heights, 106, 107
Names, 132 Rulers, 153
Nested drawings, 175 Rulers and Grid Dialog, 115
Network Administration Dialog, 207 Running SmartDraw, 14
Network diagrams, 124 Save, 20
Network installation, 13, 147, 187, 207 Save As, 20
Network license, 14 Save As Template, 196
Network, adding users, 208 Scale to Ruler Settings, 133
New Drawing, 33 Scaling the window, 152
New…, 18, 120, 195, 202 Search Bar, 68
Notes, 175 Searching for Symbols, 68
Object Linking & Embedding, 163, 176, 177, 180 Segmented lines, 23, 54
Object menu, 181 Select All, 57
Objects, 52 Selecting more than one object, 23, 37, 57
OLE links, 181 Selecting objects, 36, 56
Open, 21, 167 Selecting tables, 105, 106
Open File Button, 21 Selection target, 44, 56, 63, 116
Open Link, 174 Send to Back, 57, 117, 161
Open Symbol Library, 46, 66 Separating imported drawings, 165, 169
Opening a drawing, 21 Set Angle, 62
Opening OLE objects, 181 Set Rotation Angle Dialog, 62
Options, 201 Shading, 77
Ordering objects, 117, 161 Shadows, 83, 85
Organization charts, 114, 124 Shadows, applying only to certain shapes, 85
Page margins, 28 Shadows, text, 85
Page numbers, 160 Shape, 77
Page overlap, 157 Shape borders, 76
Page Setup, 151, 155 Shape Properties, 60
Page size, 28 Shape Sizing, 164
Paper size, 156 Shapes, 23, 41, 76
Paste, 111, 163, 164, 176, 177, 179 Shapes, adding text, 39, 89
Paste Special, 176, 179 Shapes, attachment points, 121, 123, 137
Pencil drawing, 53 Shapes, connecting, 119
Polygon Shapes, 148 Shapes, creating your own, 148
Position and Size, 61 Shapes, default size, 204

Shapes, drawing, 34 Symbols, Finding, 67, 68
Shift key, 53, 57, 58, 59, 63, 125, 164 Symbols, removing, 133
Show Advisor, 17, 200 Tab character, 98
Show Explorer, 66 Tab key, 104
Show Grid, 25, 115 Table colors, 105
Show Length, 94 Table Dialog, 100, 102, 111
Show Relative Sizes, 132 Tables, 48, 100
Show Toolbar, 22 Tables, adding rows and columns, 109, 111
Size changes, on deleting text, 98 Tables, appearance, 112
Sizing objects, 59, 108 Tables, changing row and columns sizes, 106
Sizing rules, 60 Tables, deleting rows and columns, 111
Sizing with keys, 59 Tables, examples, 113
SmartDraw Explorer, 26, 46, 66 Tables, navigation, 104
SmartDraw Explorer, closing, 66 Tables, rows and columns, 102
SmartDraw Explorer, opening, 66 Tables, scaling, 108
SmartDraw Explorer, width, 66 Tables, selection, 105, 106
SmartDraw overview, 7 Tables, text, 103, 111
SmartDraw web page, 210, 211 Target object, 44, 56, 63, 116
SmartDraw, exiting, 30 Technical support, 210
SmartDraw, installing, 12 Template categories, adding your own, 197
SmartDraw, Professional Edition, 7 Templates, 19, 34, 134
SmartDraw, Professional Plus, 8 Templates, creating your own, 196, 198
SmartDraw, Standard Edition, 7 Templates, finding, 67, 68
SmartDraw, what’s new in SmartDraw 5, 8 Templates, opening, 70
SMRTDRAW.SDT, 201 Text alignment, 91, 93
Snap to grid, 44 Text and the resizing of shapes, 89, 91, 104
Snaps, 25, 107, 115, 154, 198 Text button, 23, 89
Snaps and rotating objects, 62 Text Color, 99
Snaps, background text, 93 Text entry, 39, 89
Soft hyphen, 99 Text entry areas, 100
Software diagrams, 113 Text entry in fields, 161
Space Columns Evenly, 107 Text Entry Properties, 90, 103, 162
Space Evenly, 44, 58, 117 Text in symbols, 137
Space Rows Evenly, 107 Text in tables, 103
Spacing in Automatic Connectors, 127 Text margins, 91
Spacing lines evenly, 65 Text on lines, 93
Special characters, 98 Text shadows, 85
Spelling correction, 61, 183 Text Style, 96
Spelling correction, turning it off, 60 Text, alignment, 97
Spelling Dictionaries, 187 Text, background, 92, 97
Spelling Language, 187 Text, bullets, 99
Spelling Options, 191 Text, color, 99
Split Cells, 108 Text, fitting more inside a shape, 91
Square shapes, 53 Text, fonts, 95
Styles, 83 Text, preventing changes, 92, 104, 162
Styles, defining your own, 86 Text, single-click editing, 92
Styles, overriding, 88 Text, using the enter key, 92
Subscript, 96 Tile Windows, 22
Superscript, 96 Timelines, 112, 113
Symbol colors, 61, 138, 164 Tips, 16
Symbol libraries, 25, 131 Toolbar, 22, 27, 53, 78, 96, 125, 157, 163, 178
Symbol names, 132, 138 Toolbar, changing, 24, 203
Symbol sizing, 136 Toolbar, document, 24, 125, 133, 199
Symbol types, 132, 135, 138, 140 ToolTips, 23, 132
Symbols, adding your own, 139 Transparent shapes, 57, 76
Symbols, editing, 135 Troubleshooting, 211
SmartDraw User's Guide Index • 217

Tutorial, 32
Undo, 27
Ungroup, 149, 165
Units, 153
Unlicensed, 75
URL, 173
Use Snaps, 115
View, 152
Visio, 167
Web pages, 172, 173
Web site flowcharts, 175
Welcome Dialog, 14, 202
What’s New in SmartDraw 5, 8
Window Menu, 22
Window scale, 152
Window, drawing, 19, 22
Window, library, 25, 131

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SmartDraw®

Clip art copyrights: SmartDraw.com, Studio Advertising Art, Network World.

The Sentry Spelling-Checker Engine Copyright © 1993-1998 WinterTree Software Inc.

ImageStream® Graphics & Presentation Filters Copyright ©1991-1997 Inso Corporation

SmartDraw® and SmartDrawing® are registered trademarks of SmartDraw.com.

Windows® is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.

(858) 549 0314 FAX: (858) 549 2830 http://www.smartdraw.com

The SmartDraw Quick Tutorial 32

Drawing with SmartDraw 52

The SmartDraw Explorer 66

Changing the Appearance of a Drawing 76

ii • Contents SmartDraw User's Guide

Using Tables 100

Arranging Objects 115

Connecting Lines and Shapes 119

Formatting with Automatic Connectors 124

Symbol Libraries 131

Creating Your Own Shapes 148

Viewing and Printing 151

iv • Contents SmartDraw User's Guide

Using SmartDraw with Other Programs 163

Using SmartDraw with Microsoft Office 176

Text Tools 183

Customizing SmartDraw 195

SmartDraw User's Guide Contents • v

Appendix A Technical Support 210

vi • Contents SmartDraw User's Guide

SmartDraw User's Guide • 7

SmartDraw Professional Plus

What’s New In SmartDraw 5

More than 30,000 New Symbols

The SmartDraw Explorer

SmartDraw User's Guide Getting Started • 9

The Library Builder Wizard

Tighter Organization Charts

Dropping Shapes on Lines

10 • Getting Started SmartDraw User's Guide

Advanced Import and Export Filters

SmartDraw User's Guide Getting Started • 11

The Microsoft Office Companion

Global Search and Replace

12 • Getting Started SmartDraw User's Guide

SmartDraw User's Guide Getting Started • 13

The Welcome Dialog

14 • Getting Started SmartDraw User's Guide

View Tutorial displays a quick, 12-lesson Tutorial on

Context Sensitive Help

The Tips Dialog

The SmartDraw Advisor Window

The Advisor window always floats on top of the drawing

Creating a New Drawing

The New Drawing Dialog

The Template Dialog

SmartDraw User's Guide Getting Started • 19

20 • Getting Started SmartDraw User's Guide

The Open Dialog

SmartDraw User's Guide Getting Started • 21

Right Mouse Button Menus

The Program Toolbar

The Program Toolbar

22 • Getting Started SmartDraw User's Guide

The Document Toolbar

Document Toolbar below the Program Toolbar.

Rulers and Grids